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STA-^E  NORMAL  SCSOOi., 


READING 


A    MANUAL   FOR    TEACHERS 


BY 


MARY   E.    LAING 

FORMERLY   TEACHER    OF   PSYCHOLOGY  AND    GENERAL    PEDAGOGY 
IN   THE   OSWEGO  NORMAL   AND   TRALNINQ  SCHOOL 


IIJ^^ 


BOSTON,   U.S.A. 

D.   C.   HEATH   &  CO.,  PUBLISHEES 

1901 


Copyright,  1901, 
By  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


u.AT£NUi<i4AL  SCHOOL 


PREFACE. 

So  rapid  has  been  the  progress  in  Psychology  in  the 
last  years,  so  earnest  and  all-sided  the  study  of  teach- 
ing problems,  so  suggestive  the  work  of  Child  Study, 
that  much  new  light  has  been  thrown  on  the  method 
of  presenting  the  various  studies  in  the  school  curricu- 
lum. Added  to  this  there  has  been  an  increased  desire 
on  the  part  of  teachers  themselves  to  escape  from  the 
deadening  effects  of  mere  routine  work  and  to  become 
intelligent  students  of  the  problems  that  confront  them 
in  their  class-rooms.  The  language  of  Psychology  is 
no  longer  strange  to  such  teachers,  since  it  has  pene- 
trated much  of  the  best  pedagogical  literature ;  the 
idea  of  simple,  everyday  observation  in  their  own  class- 
room laboratories  has  grown  familiar. 

Under  these  circumstances  there  is  a  demand  for  a 
more  serious  and  thorough  discussion  of  popular  edu- 
cational questions.  Teachers  no  longer  desire  to  be 
merely  told  how  to  teach  a  subject,  but  they  choose 
rather  that  sound  principles  of  procedure  be  developed 
which  shall  suggest  varied  and  extended  application 
which  they  are  themselves  quite  able  to  make. 


IV  PREFACE. 

The  reading  problem  is  an  unusually  complex  one. 
Students  of  Psychology  know  that  it  is  by  no  means 
solved.  But  so  much  new  light  has  been  thrown  on 
this  most  obscure  subject  that  dull  and  difficult  ways 
in  Reading  have  become  illumined. 

This  book  aims  to  bring  together,  in  a  concise  form, 
some  of  the  most  valuable  and  suggestive  contribu- 
tions of  later  educational  thought  to  the  teaching  of 
Reading.  It  discusses  the  Psychology  underlying  the 
Reading  process,  and  illustrates  the  discussions  with 
examples  drawn  from  practical  teaching  work.  The 
Appendix  has  been  prepared  with  the  object  of  afford- 
ing material  for  the  use  of  teachers'  classes. 

The  book  is  written  for  pupil  teachers,  whether  they 
be  in  city  training  schools,  normal  schools,  or  in  their 
own  school-rooms,  where  .they  are,  perhaps,  trying  to 
solve  the  problems  of  education  single-handed. 


\?,SCHOII 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

L  Learning  to  Speak 1 

II.  Relation  of  Form  and  Content           ....  4 

m.  Material  for  Early  Reading  Lessons          ...  7 

rV.  Treatment  of  Material       .         .         .       ,.         .         .14 

V.  Analysis  of  Lessons 21 

VI.  Apperception  and  Reading 26 

Vn.  Correlation  of  Reading  with  Other  Studies      .         .  34 

Vm.  Met^fldjn  Reading    .     __^  -         — ^ — ^  ' 

IX.  Beginning  to  Read     ....!..  48 

X.  The  Reading  Process 57 

XI.  Principles  in  Application 66 

Xn.  "« Reading  Together " 72 

Xin.  Getting  the  Central  Thought 77 

XIV.  Intensive  and  Extensive  Reading      ....  86 

XV.  The  Picture  and  its  Use 93 

XVI.  The  Child  and  the  Book 101 

XVIL  The  Reading  Habit   . 110- 

XVm.  The  Teacher's  Preparation 118 

V 


VI 

Appendix 


\ 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


I.     Life  of  a  Bean 

II.     {A)  The  Sweet  Broth.     Grimm 

(B)  The  Star  Dollars.     Grimm 

(C)  Little  Red  Riding  Hood.     Grimm 

(D)  The  Anxious  Leaf    . 


(jB)  Clytie,  the  Sunflower 
(i^)  Raggylug.     Thompson 


(G)  Supposed  Speech  of  John  Adams 

III.  Herve  Riel.     Robert  Browning 

IV.  Study  of  Macbeth     .... 


125 

138 
139 
140 
144 
146 
147 
148 
153 
160 


MANUAL   OF   READING. 


CHAPTER   I. 

LEARNING   TO   SPEAK. 

What  is  involved  in  learning  to  read  ? 

Perhaps  we  can  understand  better  how  to  answer 
this  very  complex  question  if  we  ask  ourselves  what 
processes  are  involved  in  learning  to  speak. 

When  children  come  to  our  primary  schools  they 
command  a  spoken  language.  If  you  attempt  to  trace 
the  process  by  which  they  have  gained  a  command  of 
this  spoken  language,  you  find  it  something  like 
this :  — 

As  babies  they  have  heard  spoken  words  ;  i.e.  certain 
auditory  sensations  were  obtained  from  spoken  words, 
over  which  the  active  child-mind  busied  itself  so  that 
perceptions  of  spoken  words  were  gained.  These  were 
auditory  perceptions. 

Did  you  ever  watch  a  mother  with  her  child  ?  First, 
words  and  songs  are  simplified,  then  they  are  crooned, 
and  sung,  and  whispered  to  the  child  again  and  a^ain, 
and  always  with  animation  and  pleasure.  Each  little 
word  and  sentence  is  brimful  of  talk  that  says  what 
can  be  said  only  to  a  little  child,  and  none  of  us  have 
studied  life  far  enough  to  think  with  any  clearness 
what  it  means  to  him. 

1 


2  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

If  the  mother  show  a  ball  or  flower  or  doll  to  her 
child,  the  name  is  uttered  while  the  object  is  being  dis- 
played. In  this  way  the  auditory  perception  of  the 
word  comes  just  when  the  child-mind  is  busied  over 
the  visual  image  of  the  object.  Now  the  child  is  form- 
ing perceptions  of  these  objects,  and  by  and  by  the 
perceptions  of  the  spoken  words  are  associated  with 
the  objects  that  they  represent. 

This  association  of  the  word  and  the  idea  is  the  begin- 
ning of  learning  to  understand,  of  learning  to  speak,  of 
learning  to  read.  This  association  of  the  word  with 
the  object  or  idea  which  it  names,  the  simple  beginnings 
of  which  we  have  traced,  goes  on  continuously  in  the 
child's  life,  and  teachers  take  up  a  little  later  what  the 
mother  has  begun. 

Now  a  new  stage  of  development  is  reached  in  the 
child's  life ;  the  word  recalls  the  idea,  and  the  object 
or  idea,  the  word.  When  the  child  begins  to  speak, 
his  words  stand  for  ideas.  When  he  comes  to  the  first 
primary  room,  he  speaks  intelligently,  because  his  vo- 
cabulary represents  his  store  of  concepts,  and  he  speaks 
for  the  purpose  of  saying  something. 

He  already  possesses  an  oral  language  sufficient  for 
his  present  needs.  He  comes  to  the  school  to  be  taught 
a  written  language,  and  the  primary  teacher  who  woiild 
help  him  to  this  written  language  in  the  reading  lesson 
must  follow  nature's  method  if  she  would  be  a  success- 
ful teacher.  She  must  grow  into  an  intelligent  sym- 
pathy with  the  child  that  will  enable  her  to  establish 
something  like  real  intercourse  with  him.  The  written 
word  must  come  with  a  real  message  for  his  mind  and 
heart.      It   must   have   repetitions   endless,   but   with 


LEARNING   TO   SPEAK.  3 

infinite  variety  ;  it  must  be  full  of  interest  for  him ; 
hence  it  must  always  be  associated  with  the  concept,' 
i.e.  it  must  from  the  beginning  be  a  means  of  expression. 
Let  us  recapitulate  here.  The  child's  spoken  lan- 
guage is  gained :  — 

(1)  By  forming  concepts  of  objects. 

(2)  By  forming  auditory  images  of  words. 

(3)  By  associating  the  concept  with  its  appropriate 

word. 

Mastery  of  this  spoken  language  is  attained  by  con- 
stant repetition  under  the  stimulus  of  interest. 
The  written  language  must  be  obtained  - — 

(1)  By  forming  visual  perceptions  of  words. 

(2)  By  associating  the  written  word  and  the  idea. 

This  written  language  can  be  mastered  only  by  faith- 
ful repetitions  under  the  stimulus  of  interest. 


CHAPTER  II. 

KELATION  OF  FORM  AND  CONTENT. 

The  mother  gives  to  the  child  those  objects  that  will 
appeal  to  him.  She  learns  by  observation  the  things 
over  which  he  will  most  readily  busy  himself.  She 
assists  him  to  those  activities  which  will  arouse  and 
develop  his  physical  and  psychical  nature.  She  stimu- 
lates these  activities  by  her  own  sympathetic  interest. 
The  child  pursues  with  great  persistence  and  pleasure 
those  things  which  give  an  opportunity  for  free  self- 
expression.  The  spontaneous  attention  tvhich  he  gives 
under  these  conditions  of  free-activity  is ,  the  condition 
under  which  his  clearest  ideas  are  formed.  Healthful 
response,  in  the  form  of  activity,  both  receptive  and 
expressive,  is  what  the  mother  has  secured.  She  has 
awakened  his  interest  in  the  objects  and  activities 
toward  which  his  own  development  inclines  him. 
Without  such  interest  his  attention  would  be  fitful 
and  evanescent. 

The  presentation  of  subjects  to  which  our  children 
will  respond  and  their  presentation  in  the  most  fortu- 
nate way  form  two  most  important  aspects  of  lesson 
work.  For  this  self-active  response  is  interest,  the 
condition  of  spontaneous  attention,  without  which  edu- 
cation is  a  sorry  matter  for  both  teacher  and  child. 

The  perceptive  activity  of  the  child  does  not  lend 
itself  readily  to  the  form  of  either  spoken  or  written 

4 


RELATION  OF  FORM  AND   CONTENT.  6 

language.  If  the  child  listens  with  attention,  the 
spoken  words  must  say  something  to  him ;  if  he  looks 
attentively,  the  written  words  must  recall  ideas  that 
are  interesting  to  him.  His  interest  centres  in  the  con- 
tent. He  masters  the  language  forms  because  of  their 
essential  relation  to  content.  Interest  in  content,  loheri 
it  is  fairly  sustained,  is  the  efficient  means  in  the  mastery 
of  language  forms. 

The  first  condition  of  teaching  anything  well  is  the 
securing  of  sustained  interest  with  the  accompanying 
habits  of  attention.  The  vocabulary  of  words  that  the 
child  must  master  before  he  can  read  are  forms.  They 
must  then  be  associated  with  a  content  that  will  interest 
the  child. 

The  observation  of  children  shows  that  they  are  in- 
terested in  humanity  and  in  nature,  especially  in  those 
aspects  of  nature  that  appeal  to  them  as  life.  The 
human  interest  develops  first  and  is  most  constant  and 
persistent.  Child  study  thus  far  suggests  that  children 
are  most  interested  in  children.  The  child's  home  is 
his  little  world,  the  only  world  he  has  ever  explored. 
From  his  home  his  interest  leads  him  out  to  the  world- 
of  living  animals  and  plants  and  the  larger  world  of 
living,  acting  men. 

He  must  enter  these  worlds  as  a  child,  —  observe 
them  with  a  child's  eyes,  respond  to  them  in  a  child's 
way.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  books  which  have  ap- 
pealed most  strongly  to  children  are  books  that  have 
children  in  them.  This  is  partly  due,  no  doubt,  to  the 
child's  interest  in  the  child  and  partly  to  the  fact  that 
a  book  which  has  a  child  for  its  centre  is  more  likely  to 
carry  with  it  settings  that  will  interest  the  child.    They 


6  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

are  books  that  give  the  child's  point  of  view  —  Miss 
Andrew's  book  "The  Seven  Little  Sisters,"  and  Kip- 
ling's "  Tomai  of  the  Elephants  "  and  "  Mowgli  "  stories 
are  excellent  illustrations  of  this. 
Let  us  repeat :  — 

(1)  Clear  perceptions  are  gained  under  a  condition 

of  concentration. 

(2)  Concentration  in  its  best  form  cannot  be  secured 

without  the  aid  of  interest. 

(3)  Children's  vital  interest  centres  in  content,  never 

in  the  form  of  words. 

(4)  Children  are  most  interested  — 

a.  In  humanity  and  its  activities,  especially  in 

children. 

b.  In    nature,    especially  whatever    in    nature 

exhibits  life  and  movement. 


CHAPTER   III. 

MATERIAL   FOR   EARLY   READING  LESSONS. 

Material  for  early  reading  lessons  may  then  be 
drawn  from  these  two  great  sources  —  the  humanity 
source  and  the  nature  source.  If  we  can  add  the  human 
interest  to  the  nature  interest,  or  vice  versa,  so  much 
the  better.  We  find  such  a  relation  in  literature  and  in 
life.  The  average  child  cannot  study  geography  under 
a  teacher  who  knows  and  loves  his  subject,  without 
learning  to  appreciate  in  some  measure  the  intimate 
relation  between  man  and  his  environment ;  he  will 
learn  how  surely  man  has  grown  strong  in  overcoming 
the  difficulties  of  his  environment. ,  (See  Quiquern 
in  Kipling's  Second  Jungle  Book.)  He  cannot  study 
history  intelligently  without  learning  how  the  story  of 
whole  peoples  has  been  modified  by  their  physical  sur- 
roundings. All  his  science  study  will  teach  him  the 
dependence  of  man  on  nature  for  supplies,  as  nature 
depends  on  him  in  turn  for  "  dressing  and  keeping  "  ; 
it  will  lead  him  later  to  an  appreciation  of  the  impor- 
tant fact  that  some  of  humanity's  greatest  strides  in 
civilization  have  resulted  primarily  from  harnessing 
some  great  natural  force.  He  cannot  go  far  in  liter- 
ature without  finding  evidences  of  the  poet's  love  for 
nature  —  a  love  which  in  many  respects  is  strikingly 
akin  to  the  child's. 

The  strong  ethical  influence  of  nature  study  enters 
into  the  work  from  two  sides  —  first,  from  a  realiza- 

'7 


s 


8  MANUAL  OF  READING. 

tion  of  the  laws  of  life  as  they  are  exhibited  in  nature, 
or  from  the  receptive  side,  and  second  from  getting  into 
a  right  relation  with  i  plants  and  animals,  or  from  the 
active  side.  The  child  who  studies  the  plants  in  such 
wise  as  to  come  into  a  vivid  realization  of  the  close 
nterdependence  of  part  on  part,  so  that  the  whole 
appears  to  him  as  it  really  is,  a  system  of  intimately 
related  parts,  with  each  part  contributing  to  all  the  rest 
of  the  plant  and  receiving  something  in  return  from 
the  rest  —  this  child  has  not  only  a  more  scientific  con- 
ception of  plant  life,  but  he  has  a  valuable  type  illus- 
tration which  will  help  him  to  understand  more  complex 
organic  relations  as  he  finds  them,  whether  exhibited  in 
plant  or  animal  form,  in  a  continental  structure  or  a 
social  organization.  The  child  who  is  taught  to  feel 
that  the  animal  which  has  been  removed  from  its  envi- 
ronment for  study  must  be  honestly  cared  for,  and  its 
needs  faithfully  attended  to,  is  not  only  acquiring  a 
habit  that  will  be  likely  to  lead  to  more  painstaking 
observation,  but  he  is  learning  a  rational  and  honorable 
guardianship  of  life,  which  is  one  of  the  important 
attributes  of  moral  character.  The  child  should  destroy 
the  fewest  possible  seedlings  in  studying  them  ;  he 
should  plant  no  seed  without  being  taught  to  care  for 
it.  For  nowhere  do  we  touch  life  without  incurring 
responsibility.  To  learn  this  would  be  invaluable  to 
any  child.     Nature  study  should  teach  it. 

In  choosing  material  for  nature  work  we  must  be 
guided  by  three  principles  :  — 

(1)    The  fundamental  life  relation  which  unites  hu- 
manity to  nature  must  be  exhibited. 


MATERIAL   FOE  EARLY  READING  LESSONS.        9 

(2)  Material  must  be  chosen  from  grade  to  grade 

that  will  give  an  orderly  sequence  which  will 
serve  as  a  foundation  for  future  science  study. 

(3)  The  work  must  be  adapted  to  the  experiences 

of  the  class  itself. 

The  first  condition  has  already  been  alluded  to  from 
the  standpoint  of  interest.  From  the  standpoint  of  a 
correct  education  it  is  all-important  that  the  child 
should  reach  a  true  conception  of  fundamental  life 
conditions. 

True  ideas  of  nature  naturally  lead  to  right  action 
toward  objects  of  nature.  In  one  of  the  large  cities  of 
the  northwest  the  boys  were  wont  to  disturb  the  birds' 
nests  and  stone  their  occupants.  In  vain  did  the  teach- 
ers remonstrate.  A  study  of  birds  was  begun  a  little 
later,  and  Longfellow's  "  Birds  of  Killingworth  "  was 
read.  From  that  time  the  war  against  the  birds  ceased, 
without  a  word  or  suggestion  from  the  teachers. 

Another  condition  which  must  govern  the  choice  of 
material  in  all  nature  work  is  its  adaptability  to  the 
particular  needs  of  the  children  themselves.  Young 
children  should  be  given  material  that  impresses  them 
as  having  life.  Growth  and  movement  are  the  two 
attributes  that  appeal  most  strongly  to  children.  From 
the  plant  world  choose  li\'ing,  growing  plants,  and  have 
the  children  care  for  them.  From  the  animal  world 
select  animals  that  come  close  to  their  lives.  Again, 
let  types  be  chosen ;  e.g.  if,  in  a  series  of  lessons  where 
material  is  taken  from  the  garden,  a  monocotyledonous 
plant  is  chosen  for  study  in  one  grade,  let  a  dicotyledo- 
nous plant  follow.     In  material  drawn  from  the  zoo- 


10  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

logical  field,  if  the  grasshopper  is  studied  in  one  grade, 
choose  another  type  insect  for  subsequent  study.  In 
this  way  the  child  is  laying  an  orderly  foundation  on 
which  subsequent  work  can  build. 

The  very  first  lessons  in  reading  may  well  be  drawn 
from  nature  study,  since  these  lessons  lend  themselves 
more  readily  to  the  child's  limited  vocabulary  of  written 
words,  and  give  better  oi^portunity  for  the  foundation 
of  clear  sense  images. 

As  soon  as  possible  material  drawn  from  literature 
should  be  introduced.  Stories  from  Folk-Lore,  Fairy 
Tales,  Rhymes,  and  Legends  that  have  become  chil- 
dren's classics  should  find  their  place  in  the  reading 
hour.  The  range  of  this  material  widens  so  rapidly 
that,  like  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton's  good  reader,  the 
secret  of  successful  choice  is  in  knowing  how  to  skip 
judiciously. 

The  bridge  to  this  class  of  material  is  most  naturally 
made  from  the  nature  side,  where  a  yearly  sequence  is 
followed,  through  the  interest  that  develops  in  special 
holidays,  or  in  poems  relating  to  those  objects  in  nature 
that  form  the  subjects  of  study ;  or  the  transition  may 
begin  through  the  study  of  Indians  or  Esquimaux,  or  in 
some  other  way.  In  the  choice  of  material  follow  the 
child's  growing  interest.  In  this  way  a  true  literary 
taste  is  developed  more  surely,  and  the  difficulties  of 
mastering  a  written  language  more  readily  overcome. 

The  child's  environment  must  always  modify  the 
matter  of  his  early  reading  lessons.  The  child  in  one 
of  our  larger  cities  or  towns,  who  has  had  a  limited 
experience  with  nature,  should  have  many  lessons  drawn 
from  the  social  world  in  which  he  lives.     Meanwhile 


MATERIAL   FOR  EARLY  READING  LESSONS.      11 

no  effort  should  be  spared  to  let  nature  into  the  school- 
room. The  street-car  driver,  the  drajonan,  the  milk- 
man, the  stone-cutter,  the  mason,  and  builder  —  all  the 
activities  and  industries  about  the  child  should  be 
utilized  as  material  for  the  reading  lesson.  This  indus- 
trial side,  with  its  life  and  movement,  will  interest  the 
children.  Back  of  the  industrial  side  the  child  should 
be  helped  to  a  growing  understanding  of  social  life. 
He  should  think  of  these  laborers,  not  only  in  their 
service  to  society  in  general,  but  in  their  service  to 
their  own  homes  in  particular. 

No  better  starting-point  could  be  made  in  the  early 
language  lessons  than  the  industries  of  the  children's 
own  parents.  Such  work  has  the  advantage  of  a  vital 
relation  to  the  child's  own  life,  and  presents  valuable 
points  of  departure  leading  to  wider  fields  in  history 
and  literature,  in  science  and  geography.  When  na- 
ture work  is  introduced  after  such  a  beginning,  it 
should  be  approached  from  the  social  side.  The  homes 
of  animals,  their  manner  of  obtaining  food,  their  care 
of  their  young,  etc.,  should  be  presented  in  such  a  way 
that  the  child's  own  social  experiences  will  help  him  in 
their  interpretation.  But  some  real  experience  with 
plants  and  animals  must  precede  any  nature  study 
whatever,  and,  as  has  been  suggested,  such  experience 
should  teach  the  children  the  care  and  protection  of 
living  things.  1 

1  The  writer  once  saw  a  most  valuable  and  suggestive  exercise  in 
the  Practice  School  at  Jena.  The  teacher  of  the  beginning  class,  in- 
stead of  starting  at  once  with  the  full  programme  of  work,  reserved 
periods  in  the  iirst  daj's  for  ascertaining  the  experiences  of  the  class, 
and  the  variety  and  accuracy  of  their  ideas  of  everyday  objects. 


12  3IANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

All  this  suggests  that  the  teacher  should  study  the 
environment  of  her  class,  and  that  the  results  of  such 
study  should  modify  the  early  lessons  in  reading.  Spe- 
cial care  should  be  exercised  that  these  early  lessons 
show  definite  plan  and  continuity.  The  first  primers 
and  readers  should  be  chosen  with  an  idea  of  carrying 
forward  these  living  beginnings. 

To  recapitulate :  — 

(1)  Material   for    reading    should   be    chosen   from 

literature  and  nature  study. 

(2)  Nature  and  humanity  are  closely  related.     Ap- 

preciation of  this  relation  contributes  directly 
to  interest,  intelligence,  and  character. 

(3)  Material  chosen  must  be  adapted  to  the  child's 

stage  of  development. 

(4)  Types  should  be  chosen. 

(5)  Procedure  should  develop  an  orderly  sequence 

from  grade  to  grade. 

The  results  showed  that  the  children,  although  they  represented  the 
same  social  class  and  lived  in  the  same  neighborhood,  varied  vpidely  in 
their  sense  knowledge.  Apparently  these  differences  arose  from  the 
habits  of  their  respective  families.  The  children  who  had  shared  the 
walks  and  excursions  of  their  parents  had  an  intelligent  understanding 
of  the  world  ataibut  them,  and  an  accuracy  of  sense  images  not  fre- 
quently shown  Dy  those  children  who  had  explored  the  region  in  a 
more  accidental  and  haphazard  way. 

It  was  noticeable  that  these  children  exhibited  the  liveliest  interest 
in  each  other's  experiences,  and  a  natural  and  spontaneous  interchange 
of  thought  grew  apace.  When  the  work  was  completed  the  teacher 
had  formed  a  clear  impression  of  the  amount,  variety,  and  accuracy 
of  the  sense  images  of  his  class,  and  the  class  themselves  had  come  to 
feel  at  home  in  their  new  environment,  and  to  know  each  other.  A 
social  life  was  established. 


MATERIAL  FOR  EARLY  READING   LESSONS.      13 

(6)  Literary  material  should   be   taken  from  chil- 

dren's classics. 

(7)  The  earliest  lessons  should  be  modified  by  the 

child's  environment. 

(8)  Teachers  should,  at  the  beginning  of  the  work, 

acquaint  themselves  with  the  children's  stock 
of  sense  experiences. 


5« 


u:^ 


CHAPTER   IV. 

TEEATMENT  OF  MATERIAL   (Science). 

The  reading  lesson  should  be  closely  related  to  the 
nature  lesson  which  it  should  supplement  rather  than 
reproduce.  Points  of  interest  developed  in  nature 
study  should  be  followed  out  in  the  reading  hour. 
When  this  is  not  done,  the  children  should  have  oppor- 
tunity in  the  reading  lesson  itself  for  the  observation 
of  objects  about  which  they  are  to  read.  Such  obser- 
vation is  not  reading,  but  it  should  provide  the  chil- 
dren with  clear  sense  images,  without  which  reading  in 
the  true  sense  is  impossible. 

In  the  first  grade  early  lessons  should  be  written  on 
the  board  in  the  presence  of  the  class,  the  children  and 
teacher  making  their  own  lessons.  Such  work  should 
be  continued  in  diminishing  amount  through  the  pri- 
mary grades.  This  method  closely  unites  practice  in 
writing  and  spelling  with  reading. 

If  we  ask  what  gives  power  and  grasp  in  reading,  we 
shall  find  that  it  comes  from  :  — 

Power  to  concentrate. 
Power  to  understand  the  content. 
Power  to  make  the  content  real  and  vivid. 
Power  to  grasp  thought  in  its  entirety. 
Power   to   subordinate   in   relation    to    the    central 
thought,  that  is,  to  get  true  proportion. 
U 


TREATMENT  OF  MATERIAL.  15 

Power  to  read  is  indeed  the  first  great  condition  in 
education  and  the  primary  end  of  early  teaching. 

We  must  remember,  with  Froebel,  that  all  great 
things  have  very  simple  beginnings,  and  that  these 
beginnings  largely  determine  the  final  outcome.  If, 
then,  this  power  and  grasp  in  reading  is  to  be  present 
in  our  high  schools,  it  must  find  a  beginning  in  the 
lowest  primary  class. 

The  board  lesson  is  one  of  the  surest  means  of  mak- 
ing that  fortunate  beginning  which  will  lead  directly 
to  a  cultivation  of  the  power  that  reading  should  de- 
velop.    The  reasons  for  this  lie  in  the  following  facts  :  — 

The  board  lesson  represents  a  thoroughly  mastered 
content,  so  that  words  are  taught  in  relation  to 
ideas. 

The  board  lesson  gives  opportunity  for  the  best  pos- 
sible concentration  of  attention,  hence  for  the  more 
thorough  and  rapid  mastery   of   language   forms. 

The  board  lesson  affords  a  natural  transition  to  the 
printed  slips  that  may  also  represent  the  work  of 
teacher  and  class.  Such  a  transition  tends  to  make 
the  child  appreciate  book-making.  It  ihakes  the 
book  a  natural  and  familiar  thing,  and  prepares  him 
to  use  it  with  more  interest  and  understanding. 

We  have  suggested  that  material  drawn  from  the 
natural  science  field  should  be  treated  so  as  to  give  the 
beginning  of  a  scientific  training.  This  requires  that 
children  be  led  to  exercise  their  perceptive  activities 
over  material,  make  thoughtful  inferences,  reason  from 
cause  to  effect,  and  vice  versa,  and  base  all  conclusions 
on  known  facts.     It  requires,  too,  that  children  express 


16  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

all  observations  and  conclusions  in  simple,  direct,  truth- 
ful language. 

These  requirements  in  method  suggest  the  follow- 
ing order  of  work  with  material  :  — 

(1)  Careful  perceptive  activity  over  that  which  is 

presented  to  the  eye. 

(2)  Careful  interpretation  of  that  which  is  observed. 

(3)  Natural  and  accurate  expression. 

The  teacher,  whose  class  is  studying  the  young  bean 
plant,  should  see  that  children  observe  accurately  the 
size  of  the  cotyledons  at  various  stages.  By  means  of 
comparison  they  reach  the  fact  that  the  cotyledons  are 
diminishing,  shrinking  up.  Meanwhile,  there  is  a  re- 
lated set  of  facts  which  they  are  observing.  The  young 
plant  is  growing  larger  while  the  cotyledons  are  grow- 
ing smaller.  They  must  look  for  the  cause  of  this. 
With  a  few  young  bean  plants  developed  in  moist  cot- 
ton, they  will  discover  that  the  baby  plant  is  using  up 
material  encased  in  the  cotyledons,  which  are  the  bean 
plant's  little  storehouses. 

Always  see  that  the  child  makes  his  own  observa- 
tions and,  as  far  as  possible,  his  own  inferences,  guard- 
ing carefully  against  the  pernicious  habit  of  guessing. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  all  material  must  be 
brought  into  the  schoolroom,  though  much  of  it  should 
be  brought  there.  When  the  children  are  studying  the 
rabbit  it  will  greatly  enhance  the  value  of  the  work  if 
the  animal  can  live  in  the  schoolroom  a  few  days,  be- . 
coming  an  object  of  regulated  and  natural  care  as  well 
as  an  object  of  observation.  Fishes,  polywogs,  cray- 
fish, etc.,  may  be  kept  as  long  as  is  consistent  with  their 


TREATMENT  OF  MATERIAL.  17 

welfare,  and  should  then  faithfully  be  returned  to  their 
native  haunts.  In  no  other  way  can  children  make 
observations  so  accurately,  and  acquire  so  sure  an  inter- 
est in  the  habits  and  movements  of  the  animal,  and 
with  the  work  their  own  respectful  consideration  for 
all  life  will  constantly  grow. 

It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  confine  all  work  to  descrip- 
tion. Field  lessons  should  begin  at  once.  Material  for 
subsequent  lessons  should  be  gathered  during  excur- 
sions, and  will  naturally  grow  out  of  the  points  of 
greatest  interest ;  ^  e.g.  the  children  who  have  observed 
their  first  dandelion  with  the  teacher,  and  have  left  it 
to  gladden  other  eyes,  may  still  use  this  as  material. 
The  teacher  helping  the  children  to  recall  the  chief 
points  of  interest  and  to  give  expression  to  them  in 
the  form  of  a  reading  lesson,  secures  something  like  the 
following  :  — 

Our  First  Dandelion. 

To-day  we  found  our  first  dandelion. 

It  was  growing  close  to  the  sidewalk. 

There  was  green  grass  all  around. 

It  was  in  a  sunny  place. 

We  think  that  the  dandelion  loves  the  sunshine. 

We  did  not  pick  the  dandelion. 

Many  people  will  see  it. 

It  will  say  to  them,  "  Spring  is  here  !  " 

^  A  kindergartner  recently  related  this  little  incident.  ' '  Miss  R. 
was  walking  with  a  little  group  of  children  when  they  discorered  their 
first  dandelion.  The  first  impulse  was  to  pick  it,  but  some  one  sug- 
gested that  if  it  were  left  there,  other  people  could  see  it.  At  that  they 
all  gathered  round  and  worshipped  it."  This  little  incident  right  out 
of  everyday  child  life  suggests  that  "having"  even  in  nature  study, 
is  not  always  best  possession. 


18  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

Much  of  the  success  of  the  work  will  depend  on  the 
teacher's  skill  in  directing  the  activity  of  the  children 
both  in  seeing  and  saying.  She  will  help  the  children 
to  discover  in  their  field  walks  the  conditions  under 
which  the  flower  is  growing,  its  habits  will  be  observed 
while  she  will  be  careful  to  awaken  no  mere  sentiment 
for  the  flower,  but  simply  enter  into  the  child's  natural 
feelings  for  it.  The  teacher  must  direct  the  natural 
expression  of  the  class,  in  the  subsequent  reading  and 
language  lesson  by  questions  and  suggestions  ;  e.g.^ 
Where  did  we  find  the  dandelion  growing  ?  (writing 
the  children's  answers  on  the  board  in  "the  story" 
which  they  are  making  together).  Why  did  we  think 
the  dandelion  liked  this  place  ?  Why  did  we  decide  to 
leave  it  ?     What  will  it  say  to  people  ?   etc. 

Remember  that  definiteness  must  characterize  all  work 
in  directing  the  child's  thoughts.  He  will  lose  all  in- 
terest in  seeing  if  he  is  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  direction 
that  his  activity  is  to  take. 

It  should  be  remembered  here  that  much  of  the  read- 
ing work  drawn  from  nature  study  has  failed  because  the 
reading  lesson  has  been  made  a  means  of  merely  repeat- 
ing the  nature  lesson,  or  of  pronouncing  the  written 
language  lesson  drawn  from  the  nature  work.  The 
reading  lesson  should  as  a  rule,  hold  something  new  for 
the  child.  The  truths  learned  in  the  nature  study  may, 
and  must,  reappear  in  the  subsequent  reading  lesson, 
but  they  should  be  seen  from  a  new  angle.  If  a  child 
already  knows  the  exact  content  of  his  reading  exercise, 
there  is  no  opportunity  left  for  self-activity  over  that 
content,  hence  interest  diminishes  and  a  habit  of  mere 
word  pronunciation  is  induced. 


TREATMENT  OF  MATERIAL,  19 

The  reading  lesson  should  be  made  a  means  of 
adding  the  element  of  imagery  and  life  that  should 
always  follow  accurate  perceptive  activity.  Personi- 
fication is  a  natural  method  of  expressing  such  imagery. 
Also  in  such  lessons  the  human  interest  may  be  appealed 
to,  and  the  true  relation  between  child  and  nature 
taught.  Admirable  review  lessons  can  also  be  given 
that  quicken  the  child's  knowledge  and  increase  the 
accuracy  of  his  ideas.  (See  Appendix  I.,  especially  the 
work  in  review,  p.  135.)  In  such  a  prooedure,  read- 
ing becomes  truly  supplementary  of  nature  work. 

Because  of  the  character  of  the  cliild's  imagination, 
personification  becomes  the  child's  natural  form  of  ex 
pression.  Children  readily  fall  into  tliis  method  of  mak- 
ing their  stories.  The  slightest  initiative  will  induce 
this  form  of  expression,  e.g..  What  would  the  dande- 
lion say  to  us  if  it  could  talk  ?  Let  us  ask  it  where  it 
lives.  From  this  most  animated  form  of  language, 
good  reading  most  naturally  grows.  Its  very  anima- 
tion stimulates  thought,  makes  expression  natural,  and 
awakens  a  more  lively  appreciation  of  content. 

I  am  a  dandelion. 

My  home  is  in  the  green  grass. 

I  like  sunny  places  best. 

I  look  like  a  star  in  the  grass. 

I  am  sun  color. 

I  say  to  the  people,  "  Spring  has  come  I  " 

To  summarize  :  — 

(1)  Material  for  first  reading  lessons  should  be  drawn 

from  nature  study. 

(2)  These  first  lessons  should  be  written  on  the  board. 


20  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

(3)  The  reading  lesson  should  be  preceded  by  a  na- 

ture lesson  in  the  schoolroom  or  a  field  lesson. 

(4)  In  these  nature  lessons  the  children  should  be 

trained  to  make  their  own  observations. 

(5)  These  observations  expressed  in  simple  natural 

language  should  make  the  reading  lesson. 

(6)  These   subsequent  reading  lessons   should  sup- 

plement  the   nature  study,  but  they  should 
never  be  a  mere  repetition  of  it. 

(7)  In  all  this  work,  children  should  be  clearly  and 

simply  directed. 


CHAPTER   V. 

ANALYSIS  OF  LESSONS    (Science). 

Interest  in  the  object  itself  must  develop  before 
there  can  be  great  interest  in  reading  about  the  object. 
As  we  have  seen,  the  science  lesson  proper  should  not 
be  the  reading  lesson,  but  the  reading  lesson  should 
grow  out  of  it.  Science  primers  should  in  every  case 
succeed  the  study  of  the  objects  which  they  describe  ; 
only  so  is  an  intelligent  interest  possible.  Let  us  look 
at  the  first  two  or  three  lessons  in  such  a  primer  and 
ask  ourselves  about  the  work  that  should  have  preceded 
them. 

I  am  a  little  baby  bean. 
I  am  white. 

I  am  round  and  smooth. 
Little  Nell  put  me  to  bed  in  the  earth. 
I  like  the  soft  warm  earth. 
It  is  my  blanket. 
My  blanket  covers  me  all  up. 
The  sun  loves  me. 
He  makes  my  bed  warm. 
The  rain  loves  me. 
It  gives  me  water  to  drink. 
I  love  the  good  rain. 
Little  Nell  loves  me. 
She  will  let  no  one  hurt  me. 
21 


22  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

I  love  little  Nell. 

I  shall  go  to  sleep  now. 

Soon  the  sun  and  the  rain  will  wake  me. 

Do  you  know  what  I  shall  do  then  ? 

(For  remaining  lessons  of  series,  see  Appendix  I.) 
It  is  evident,  first  of  all,  that  the  study  of  the  bean 
plant,  from  seed  to  seed,  should  precede  the  reading  of 
this  book.  Next,  there  should  be  a  series  of  board 
lessons  in  reading  growing  out  of  such  study,  so  that 
children  will  master  a  fair  vocabulary  of  words  along 
this  line.     They  are  then  ready  to  enjoy  the  book. 

There  are  some  pleasant  features  in  the  science  study 
itself  suggested  by  this  little  primer  :  — 

(1)  The  children  are  evidently  supposed   to   have 

made  their  own  observations. 

(2)  The  sequence  is  followed  through  a  complete 

series,  so  that  the  close  interrelation  between 
parts  becomes  clear.  The  whole  is  seen  as  an 
unfolding  life,  and  the  bean  plant  itself  as  a 
completely  organized  system  of  forces,  in  close 
relation,  and  working  in  complete  harmony. 
This  biological  aspect  of  the  study  is  calcu- 
lated to  interest  children  because  they  feel 
that  real  life  is  present. 

(3)  The  most  important  ethical  value  of  the  work 

enters  with  this  study  of  life,  and  one  of  the 
most  pleasing  features  of  this  lesson  series  is 
seen  in  its  strong  ethical  force.  This  arises 
in  part  because  of  the  care-taking  relation 
between  the  child  (who  is  one  of  the  bean 
plant's  friends)  and  the  bean.     But  it  is  much 


ANALYSIS   OF  LESSONS.  23 

more  plainly  shown  in  the  clear  exhibition  of 
the  function  and  use  of  the  various  parts,  so 
that  the  fact  that  each  is  working  for  all  and 
all  for  each  is  clearly  shown.  This,  as  has 
been  said,  is  one  of  the  most  important  truths 
that  science  has  to  teach  the  child. 

(4)  This  conception  of  the  intimate  relation  between 

life  forces  must  grow  slowly  in  the  child  mind, 
exhibited  first  in  the  study  of  animals  in  rela- 
tion to  their  environment,  later  in  the  study 
that  shows  the  relation  between  the  conti- 
nental structure  and  the  continental  life  in 
geography.  Such  relations  may  be  alluded 
to  by  the  teacher  in  opportune  moments,  but 
should  never  be  moralized  over.  Teaching 
should  make  them  prominent ;  these  great 
truths  held  before  the  eyes  constantly,  now 
in  one  aspect,  now  in  another,  become  at  last 
a  part  of  the  child's  everyday  thought.  Ethi- 
cal and  religious  truth  may  thus  become  a 
means  of  helping  the  child  to  realize  his  own 
ethical  nature. 

(5)  The  forces  outside  the  bean  plant,  on  which  it 

depends  for  the  quickening  of  its  own  life, 
are  clearly  shown  in  this  series  of  lessons. 
Sunshine,  rain,  and  earth  —  each  in  its  own 
way  is  loving  and  helpful. 

(6)  The  personification  throughout  is  only  a  natural 

expression  of  all  that  the  child  feels  here 
as  life.  Indeed,  it  may  be  seriously  ques- 
tioned if  these  agencies  could  be  properly 
represented  to  his  mind  in  any  other  form. 


24  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

This  simple  series  of  lessons  is  home-made,  the  work 
of  teachers  who  a  few  days  before  the  writing  would 
have  said,  "  We  cannot  possibly  write  lessons  for  chil- 
dren or  make  reading  lessons  with  children,"  and  who 
succeeded  in  doing  the  thing  they  "  could  not  "  because 
they  were  trying,  not  to  make  a  book,  but  rather  to 
adapt  science  to  the  minds  of  children.  It  is  only  an- 
other illustration  of  the  great  truth,  that  when  we 
begin  truly  to  "  live  with  our  children  "  we  shall  learn  to 
do  for  them  all  that  we  need  to  do.  One  of  the  most 
important  suggestions  of  this  little  primer  for  young 
teachers  is  to  help  them  feel  that  they  too  can  do  this 
work. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  most  beautiful  reading 
books  are  unprinted.  They  are  the  living  books  made 
by  teachers  and  children  in  their  daily  work,  and  as 
they  grow  out  of  real  life  and  express  live  interests, 
they  have  power  to  inspire  interest  in  others.  The 
printed  slips,  the  children's  own  work  or  their 
teacher's,  easily  become  little  home-made  books. 
Such  work  puts  the  child  from  the  beginning  into 
another  relation  to  the  book.  It  is  nearer  him.  He 
has  a  simpler  and  truer  notion  of  how  books  come  to 
be :  he  can  use  them  more  intelligently. 

Children  should  make  their  own  drawings  from  the 
object  in  nature  work.  This  is  the  very  best  means  of 
securing  an  accurate  sense  image  of  that  object.  "  A 
pencil  is  the  best  of  eyes,"  said  Agassiz.  The  pencil 
has  wonderful  power  in  increasing  our  general  percep- 
tive insight.  The  child  who  has  made  his  own  draw- 
ing from  life  will  appreciate  the  illustrations  of  the 
book  as  no  other  child  can. 


ANALYSIS   OF  LESSONS.  25 

All  work  in  drawing,  coloring,  free  paper-cutting, 
and  modelling  is  a  true  adjunct  of  the  reading  work, 
since  it  constantly  sharpens  the  child's  visual  and  tactile 
senses,  and  adds  accuracy  to  all  his  perceptions  of  form 
and  color.  Moreover,  such  work  is  preparing  him  for 
an  intelligent  use  of  the  picture  and  for  a  more  pleasur- 
able and  profitable  reading  of  the  written  description. 

But  the  picture  should  not  supersede  the  object. 
For  the  beginning  with  concrete  material  helps  the 
child  afterward  properly  to  interpret  the  picture.  (See 
chapter  on  The  Picture  and  its  Use.)  In  all  work, 
see  that  perceptive  activity  is  alert,  for  general  and 
superficial  seeing  must  be  superseded  by  special  and 
definite  seeing ;  general  and  sentimental  emotion  must 
be  superseded  by  simple,  true  feeling. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

APPEECEPTION   AND   READING. 
The  Water  Drops. 

Some  little  drops  of  water, 
Whose  home  was  in  the  sea, 

To  go  upon  a  journey- 
Once  happened  to  agree. 

A  cloud  they  had  for  carriage, 

They  drove  a  playful  breeze, 
And  over  town  and  country, 

They  rode  along  at  ease. 

But  oh  !  they  were  so  many. 

At  last  the  carriage  broke, 
And  to  the  ground  came  tumbling 

These  frightened  little  folk. 

And  through  the  moss  and  grasses 
They  were  compelled  to  roam, 

Until  a  brooklet  found  them 
And  carried  them  safe  home. 

(JFrom  "  Stepping  Stones  to  Literature.") 

When  would  you  read  a  selection  like  this  with  your 
class?  To  many  a  second  grade  class  it  would  be  an 
obscure  story.     The  class  that  knew  nothing  of  evapo- 

26 


APPERCEPTION  AND  READING.  27 

ration,  formation  of  clouds,  rainfall,  and  brook  life  would 
find  it  incomprehensible.  But  children  who  have  just 
finished  the  simple  study  of  evaporation  and  rainfall, 
of  clouds  and  brook  basins,  that  make  the  beginning 
and  foundation  for  so  much  of  our  geography  work, 
would  find  in  this  selection  a  rare  treasure. 

We  have  seen  that  the  child  reads  what  he  grasps. 
Let  us  now  state  that  he  grasps  what  he  apperceives  or 
understandso 

All  concepts,  all  ideas  that  are  of  any  worth  to  us,  are 
active  forces.  They  do  not  reenter  consciousness  when 
we  ask  for  them  merely,  but  they  often  assume  clear- 
ness in  response  to  that  condition  of  consciousness 
which  calls  them  up.  The  child  reared  in  a  city  home 
with  a  globe  of  goldfish  among  its  furnishings,  needs 
no  one  to  tell  him  that  he  is  looking  at  fish,  the  first 
time  he  finds  his  way  to  a  pebbly  stream  and  watches 
the  minnows  dart  about  or  the  brook  trout  make 
their  excursions  through  the  shady  pools.  He  knows 
that  they  are  fish  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  he  possesses 
the  old  concept  of  goldfish.  He  interprets  the  new  by 
means  of  the  old  concept.  The  new  sense  perception 
of  minnow  or  trout  recalls  the  old  concept  of  goldfish 
to  consciousness,  and  the  process  of  comparison  and 
interpretation  goes  on,  with  the  result  that  the  child 
understands  what  he  sees.  The  process  goes  on  very 
rapidly  if  the  child's  mind  is  at  its  best,  and  if  both  sets 
of  concepts  are  clear,  the  process  is  then  attended  with 
great  pleasure. 

The  old  concepts  of  goldfish  are  the  apperceiving  or 
interpreting  concepts,  the  new  concepts  the  interpreted 
or  apperceived,  and  the  whole  process  apperception. 


28  MANUAL  OF  BEADING. 

The  important  things  for  us  to  note  are  :  — 

(1)  The  old  concej^t   is   recalled  by  means   of   the 

related  new. 

(2)  The  new  is  the  object  of  concentration. 

(3)  The  process  is  one  of  comparison  of  the  new 

with  the  old. 

(4)  The  finished  process  leaves  the  new  understood. 

(5)  At  the  close  of  the  process  the  new  is  associated 

with  the  old. 

(6)  The    child's    activity   is    at    once    spontaneous, 

fruitful,  and  pleasurable. 

When  the  child  has  looked  at  the  fish  for  a  few 
moments  and  goes  away  to  tell  some  one  that  he  has 
seen  some  fish  that  are  not  goldfish,  or  that  he  has  seen 
some  little  brown  fish,  it  is  Avith  the  sense  that  he  has 
acquired  a  new  possession.  From  now  on,  when  he 
recalls  his  concept  of  goldfish  these  other  concepts  will 
come,  or  vice  versa.  The  new  is  assimilated  with  the 
related  old.  It  has  found  its  right  place  with  other 
stores.  From  now  on  it  is  a  living  concept  power. 
And  whether  this  particular  concept  group  grows  to 
no  greater  wealth  than  it  has  with  most  of  us,  who 
know  the  fish  because  we  eat  them,  or  whether  it 
becomes  as  rich  and  complex  as  that  of  an  Agassiz,  the 
fact  remains  that  all  subsequent  additions  to  that  par- 
ticular group  of  ideas  must  take  j)lace  in  this  way. 

Apperception  is  the  condition  of  knowing.  It  is  the 
most  important  condition  of  interest.  Its  study  makes 
one  of  the  most  helpful  chapters  of  Psychology  for  the 
teacher.    Without  endeavoring  to  add  to  the  treatises  on 


APPERCEPTION  AND  BEADING.  29 

Apperception  already  written,^  let  us  content  ourselves 
with  noting  a  few  facts  that  are  of  especial  import  to 
reading. 

The  first  fact  is  this  :  If  the  right  apperceiving  ideas 
are  present  in  the  mind,  the  process  of  apperception 
will  go  on  without  further  care.  When  these  ideas  are 
present,  the  child  feels  what  is  really  true  —  that  he  is 
finding  out  the  new  for  himself,  hence  a  heightened 
sense  of  acquisition,  of  power,  which,  gives  genuine  and 
helpful  pleasure. 

Again  :  Under  this  normal  process  the  new  becomes 
the  sole  object  of  conscious  attention,  hence  the  result- 
ing product  is  sharp  and  clear.  The  teacher  who 
explains  this  poem  on  "  The  Water  Drops  "  while  its 
presentation  is  in  progress,  is  simply  pushing  in  new 
apperceiving  ideas,  along  with  the  ideas  contained  in 
the  poem  itself.  This  doubles  the  work  by  giving  two 
series  of  ideas  at  the  same  time,  and  since  one  of  these 
tlie  pupils  must  apperceive  before  they  can  understand 
the  other,  concentration  becomes  impossible  and  the 
whole  process  is  confused.  Who  of  us  does  not  remem- 
ber the  dazed  condition  of  mind  in  which  he  found  him- 
self in  the  old  school  days,  after  one  of  these  so-called 
explanations  ?  The  truth  is,  we  must  explain  the  new 
before  we  teach  it,  paradoxical  as  it  may  sound,  and  only 
so  can  we  hope  to  teach  it  successfully. 

Not  all  apperceiving  ideas  are  of  equal  value.  A  lit- 
tle thought  makes  it  very  clear  that  the  old  must  be 
related  to  the  new  along  vital  lines.     The  teacher  who- 

1  See  Lange's  "Apperception,"  published  by  D,  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  and 
"  A  Pot  of  Green  Feathers,"  published  by  Charles  Bardeen,  Syracuse, 
New  York. 


30  MANUAL  OF  READING. 

thoroughly  teaches  the  brook  basin  of  his  own  neigh- 
borhood has  helped  his  children  to  form  a  complex  con- 
cept that  will  be  more  important  in  helping  them  to 
interpret  larger  streams  and  rivers  than  any  other  that 
they  could  possibly  form.  You  may  increase  facts 
about  the  length  of  the  Rhine,  its  forests,  its  castles,  its 
vineyards  —  but,  after  all,  the  Rhine  is  a  river,  and  it 
is  most  important  that  the  child  see  its  great  slopes, 
appreciate  its  great  basin  and  structural  relation  to  the 
continent.  Minor  ideas  of  forests,  vine-clad  hills,  far- 
reaching  plain,  of  city,  castle,  and  cathedral,  may  be 
added,  until  the  whole  is  rich  in  detail,  but  it  is  most 
important  to  have  the  simple,  fundamental,  structural 
ideas  true,  for  details  can  be  true  only  superficially  if 
the  proper  apperception  of  the  fundamental  is  faulty  or 
wanting  altogether. 

This  leads  us  to  a  related  fact.  The  character  of  the 
apperception  determines  the  quality  of  the  interest. 
The  class  who  see  the  great  Rhine  basin  as  a  part  of 
the  structural  life  of  the  continental  land  mass  will 
come  to  the  description  of  the  Black  Forest  and  upper 
Rhine,  to  the  pictures  of  vineyard  and  castle  and  cathe- 
dral with  a  more  sustained  interest  and  a  more  intelli- 
gent appreciation,  than  a  class  could  possibly  possess 
who  are  adding  these  details  to  an  imperfect  founda- 
tion. 

We  should  remember  that  the  principles  on  which 
such  work  rests  are  no  invention  of  physiography  or 
modern  psychology  or  Herbartian  pedagogy.  They 
are  based  on  the  laws  of  mind,  and  could  have  been 
learned  long  ago  by  an  observation  of  mind,  as  is  evi- 
denced  by  Csesar's  method   of   apperceiving   Western 


APPERCEPTION  AND  READING.  31 

Europe  illustrated  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  first  book 
of  his  Gallic  War. 

The  continuity  of  well-arranged  subject-matter  gives 
these  fundamental  apperceiving  ideas  in  excellent  se- 
quence, so  that  one  thing  prepares  for  another.  But 
what  has  this  to  do  with  the  reading  class,  where  con- 
tinuity is  the  exception  and  not  the  rule,  where  chil- 
dren read  a  new  "  piece  "  each  day,  and  where  "  pieces  " 
rarely  fit  in  with  each  other  or  with  anything  else  in 
the  daily  programme  ? 
.  You  answer.  By  making  the  work  in  reading  relate 
to  that  of  other  studies,  drawing  the  material  now 
from  science,  now  from  geography,  now  from  story 
work,  where  apperceiving  ideas  have  already  been  fur- 
nished, we  shall  lay  the  proper  apperceptive  basis.  Such 
supplementary  reading  should  undoubtedly  form  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  material  for  the  reading  lesson,  but 
we  should  remember  that  reading  must  form  the  liter- 
ary habit.  The  literary  habit  is  not  well  formed  if  the 
reading  becomes  superficially  discursive,  and  if  the  child 
fails  to  gain  the  power  of  grasping  selections  in  their 
continuity.  This  power  can  never  be  well  developed 
by  the  use  of  "  pieces,"  or  by  the  excessive  use  of 
short  selections.  Our  classes  must  be  given  many 
whole  texts  where  continuity  of  thought  is  sustained. 
Said  an  enthusiastic  teacher  of  reading  in  the  third 
grade :  "  My  class  have  read  nothing  in  the  half  year 
that  they  enjoyed  as  they  did  the  'Snow  Queen.'  They 
read  it  all  in  one  week  !  "  An  investigation  of  condi- 
tions showed  the  following  facts  :  The  "  Snow  Queen," 
by  Hans  Andersen,  is  a  fairy  story  with  a  rich  ethical 
content.     A  mirror  in  the  hands  of  a  wicked  sprite  had 


32  MANUAL   OF  HEADING. 

the  power  of  making  everytliing  reflected  in  it  look 
ugly.  At  last  it  went  to  pieces,  and  some  of  its  many 
tiny  splinters  which  were  floating  in  the  air,  settled 
into  the  eyes  and  heart  of  a  little  boy  named  Kay, 
who  at  once  became  very  bright  and  very  disagreeable. 
At  last  he  came  under  the  influence  of  the  Snow  Queen 
whose  kiss  froze  his  heart  and  made  him  forget  his 
home  and  his  little  play-fellow  Gerda.  Lonely  little 
Gerda  whispers  to  the  sunbeams  and  roses  that  Kay 
is  dead,  but  they  answer,  "We  do  not  believe  it."  At 
last  she  does  not  believe  it  herself.  Then  she  goes 
to  look  for  Kay,  and  after  long  wandering,  in  which 
she  is  helped  by  flowers  and  beasts  and  birds,  she 
reaches  the  ice  palace  of  the  Snow  Queen  away  in  the 
north.  There  she  finds  Kay.  Her  kiss  melts  away 
the  ice  from  his  frozen  heart,  his  tears  wash  out  the 
ugly  splinters,  and  together  they  return  home. 

Here  are  some  facts  worth  noting  :  — 

This  class  accomplished  at  least  one-third  more  work 
in  this  single  week  than  in  any  other  week  in  the  term. 
They  enjoyed  this  story  most,  and  they  read  it  better. 
Why  ?  First,  the  selection  was  exceedingly  ^vell  adapted 
to  their  stage  of  development.  Again,  each  lesson  was 
a  preparation  for  the  succeeding  one,  i.e.  the  ideas 
gained  in  one  lesson  became  the  apperceiving  ideas  for 
the  next.  This  fact  provided  for  a  crescendo  of  in- 
terest. Because  of  all  this,  concentration  of  a  better 
quality  was  obtained,  and  obtained  more  easily  than  in 
the  reading  of  "pieces"  where  concentrations  cannot 
support  one  another.  Work  became  more  spontaneous 
from  day  to  day,  as  interest  increased,  so  that  a  maximum 
of  work  was  accomplished  with  a  mimimum  of  labor. 


APPEECEPTION  AND  READING.  33 

It  takes  more  training  and  a  richer  stock  of  ideas  to 
interpret  a  fragment  of  a  Greek  statue,  an  arm,  or 
torso,  than  the  Venus  of  Milo,  and  this  Venus  could 
be  more  readily  interpreted  were  the  arms  present  in 
their  original  position.  It  takes  a  better  equipped  mind 
to  interpret  an  isolated  act  from  "  Henry  VIII."  than 
the  whole  play.  The  truth  is,  that  the  single  act  can 
be  rightly  interpreted  in  no  other  way  than  by  relating 
it  to  the  whole.  Do  we  not,  when  we  fill  our  reading 
with  fragments  cut  from  artistic  wholes,  spoil  the  child's 
power  of  seeing  things  in  due  relation  by  placing  him 
under  conditions  where  such  interpretation  is  impos- 
sible ? 

The  law  of  apperception  demands  that  we  select 
no  "  pieces "  for  our  reading  lessons  unless  the  whole 
is  being  presented  by  some  other  study,  and  unless  this 
part  has  a  direct  articulation  with  that  whole.  A 
whole  may  be  brief  enough  to  be  grasped  in  a  single 
lesson,  or  it  may  be  indefinitely  long.  Increased  power 
and  impetus  are  gained  in  the  longer  selection. 

Then  wholes  must  be  treated  as  wholes,  i.e.  parts 
should  be  seen  in  relation  to  each  other,  and  the  child's 
mind  prepared  for  the  efficient  apprehension  of  the 
fundamental  thought.  The  child's  power  of  apperceiv- 
ing  the  whole  is  measured  by  his  power  of  grasping 
the  central  thought. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

CORRELATION   OF   READING   WITH   OTHER   STUDIES. 

Correlation  of  reading  with  other  studies  has  been 
implied  thus  far  in  this  discussion. 

Correlation  of  studies  is  a  subject  which  has  been  so 
fully  discussed  that  its  value  can  well  be  taken  for 
granted  here.  The  teacher  who  relates  reading,  writ- 
ing, spelling,  and  language  with  science  has  long  since 
learned  that  there  is  not  only  a  large  resulting  gain  in 
the  saving  of  time  and  energy,  but  she  has  learned  that 
the  work  is  actually  better  done.  The  science  lesson 
carried  forward  to  accurate  oral  and  written  expression 
is  more  thoroughly  taught,  and  no  language  work  is  so 
effective  as  that  which  grows  directly  from  the  matter 
in  which  the  child  is  interested.  Reading  as  well  as 
language  receives  its  dynamic  force  from  such  a  rela- 
tion. Spelling  and  writing,  as  right  habits,  can  be 
learned  only  by  practice. 

This  may  be  called  the  formal  side  of  correlation, 
but  there  is  another  side  of  greater  worth. 

Psychology  teaches  us  that  concepts  or  ideas  should 
not  only  be  well  formed,  but  they  must  be  associated 
with  related  concepts.  The  teacher  who  secures  interest 
in  her  course  of  lessons  upon  the  dragon-fly  will  insure 
vividness  to  the  concepts  which  the  children  are  form- 
ing. If  there  is  sharp  observation  during  the  course 
of  the  work,  their  ideas  not  only  gain  in  clearness,  so 

34 


CORRELATION  OF  READING.  35 

that  the  children  are  not  merely  able  to  distinguish  the 
dragon-fly  from  related  insects,  but  their  ideas  have 
gained  in  definiteness,  and  the  child  has  a  clear  concept 
of  the  structure  of  the  head,  of  the  thorax  and  its 
attachments,  and  of  the  abdomen.  Analysis  has  given 
clearness  to  each  part  and  distinctness  to  the  whole. 
Continuity  in  the  work  gives  a  group  of  closely  associ- 
ated ideas  —  a  well-articulated  concept  group. 

Let  the  teacher  use  comparison  throughout  the  work, 
leading  the  children  to  compare  the  dragon-fly  and 
some  other  closely  related  insect  which  they  have 
studied  thoroughly,  e.g.  the  beetle.  The  result  will  be 
the  close  association  of  these  two  well-articulated  con- 
cept groups.  Both  groups  gain  by  the  association  itself, 
while  the  comparison,  as  it  proceeds,  does  not  merely 
form  these  associations  but  it  gives  clearer,  sharper  dis- 
tinctions to  the  concepts  compared. 

Such  work  continued  throughout  education  would 
result  in  the  intimate  association  of  ideas  relating  to 
geography  with  those  relating  to  mineralogy,  to  physics, 
to  history,  etc.  It  would  result  in  the  relation  of 
history  not  only  to  certain  features  in  society  about  us 
and  tp  events  chronicled  in  periodicals,  but  to  literature, 
to  art,  etc.  It  would  help  in  the  recognition  of  historic 
material  wherever  met  with,  and  in  its  use  as  historic 
material.  Intimate  relations  would  be  seen  existing 
between  the  parts  of  knowledge.  Clear  associations 
will  have  been  established  between  concept  groups, 
between  concept  masses.  Knowledge  would  be  char- 
acterized by  breadth,  close  articulation,  system,  vigor. 
The  whole  circle  of  thought  would  be  unified. 

Such  work  results  in  the  concentration  of  the  Individ- 


36  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

ual's  power.  Concentration  as  a  principle  in  pedagogy- 
is  based  on  the  great  fact  that  '•  unity  is  power  "  in  the 
life  of  a  man  as  well  as  in  the  life  of  a  state.  The  cor- 
relation of  studies  is  but  one  means  to  this  great  end. 
A  method  which  carefully  compares  and  associates  that 
which  is  in  vital  relation  is  another  means. 

Correlation,  then,  if  it  be  genuine,  does  not  merely 
relate  subjects  carefully  in  the  course  of  study  and  in 
the  daily  programme  so  that  they  naturally  assist  one 
another  as  apperceiving  forces,  but  it  seeks  to  bring 
about  definite  results  in  the  mind  of  the  child.  It  does 
this  by  a  careful  study  of  his  needs  and  a  continuous 
adaptation  of  the  procedure  to  these  needs.  It  relies 
on  method  as  well  as  arrangement  of  matter,  and  above 
all  it  remembers  that  the  real  work  of  correlating  and 
unifying  must  be  done  in  the  active  minds  of  the  children 
themselves. 

Let  us  examine  a  third  grade  lesson,  presumably 
written  by  some  child  as  the  result  of  certain  observa- 
tion in  science  work,  and  possibly  printed  afterward  on 
slips  to  be  used  as  material  for  the  reading  class. 

Hoiv  My  Oorn  Plant  G-rows. 

Two  weeks  ago  my  corn  plant  measured  three  inches 
from  the  ground  to  the  tip  of  the  tallest  blade.  One 
week  ago  it  measured  four  and  one-fourth  inches,  so 
that  it  gained  one  and  one-fourth  inches  in  a  week. 

To-day  it  measures  six  inches  from  the  ground  to  the 
tip  of  the  tallest  blade,  so  that  this  week  it  has  gained 
one  and  three-fourths  inches.  This  is  one-half  inch 
better  than  last  week. 


CORRELATION  OF  READING.  37 

We  have  had  a  warm  bright  sun  during  the  past 
week.  There  were  two  cloudy  and  cold  days  the  week 
before.  To-day  the  sun  is  so  warm  that  the  earth  feels 
warm  about  the  corn  plant  when  I  touch  it. 

The  leaves  have  grown  dark  green  and  look  strong. 
Miss  Brown  says  it  is  a  fine  plant  !  George  forgot  to 
water  his  plant  for  three  days.  During  that  time  it 
grew  but  one-eighth  of  an  inch.  The  girth  of  my  plant 
is  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch. 

To-day  we  learned  to  say  —  "  First  the  blade,  then 
the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear." 

This  child  has  made  drawings  of  his  corn  plant  in 
various  stages,  and  will  continue  to  make  such  drawings. 
The  class  will  read  together  "  Blessing  the  Cornfields," 
from  Longfellow's  "  Songs  of  Hiawatha,"  and  they  will 
have  a  short  series  of  history  lessons  on  "  The  First 
Corn  Planting  in  New  England." 

If  we  ask  ourselves  what  subjects  have  been  related 
here,  we  shall  find  that  we  have  not  only  the  formal  and 
necessary  relation  of  science  and  language,  writing  and 
spelling,  but  also  of  drawing,  number,  history,  and  litera- 
ture. 

Let  us  go  a  step  farther  and  ask  why  each  has  been 
introduced.  Drawings  have  helped  to  sharpen  observa- 
tion. We  must  perceive  the  object  before  we  can  repro- 
duce it  in  drawing,  and  we  must  perceive  it  accurately 
if  our  drawing  tells  the  truth,  hence  drawing  has  been 
made  the  means  of  obtaining  an  accurate  concept  of  the 
plant  in  its  various  stages.  Why  is  number  introduced 
here  ?  Evidently  for  the  purpose  of  making  observa- 
tions exact.  It  is  not  enough  for  me  to  see  that  my 
plant  has  grown  little  and  my  neighbor's  much,  but  I 


38  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

must  ascertain,  if  possible,  hotv  much  more  tliat  other 
plant  has  grown ;  last  of  all,  I  must  ascertain  the 
cause  of  this  difference  in  growth  between  the  plants, 
or  in  the  same  plant  during  different  periods.  This  is 
good  science  work,  and  arithmetic  has  helped  to  make 
it  accurate. 

But  why  relate  the  work  to  literatiu-e  ?  In  order  that 
the  children  may  learn  the  value  of  corn  to  man  and 
learn  it  in  connection  with  the  part  that  it  has  played 
on  this  continent  in  the  earlier  history  of  the  Indians. 
But  above  all,  a  true  poet  teaches  them  here,  hence  the 
ethical  significance  of  the  whole  is  felt  more  truly  and 
more  vividly.  When  they  have  learned  to  think  of  this 
plant  as  one  of  the  good  gifts  of  the  Great  Spirit  to 
man,  they  turn  to  our  o^vn  history  and  are  ready  to 
appreciate  the  significance  of  the  corn  plant  to  the  early 
settlers  of  New  England. 

One  has  only  to  ask  himself  the  effect  of  all  this  in 
the  form  of  a  stimulated  interest,  of  a  developed  intelli- 
gence and  sympathy,  of  a  real  education,  to  feel  the 
vast  gains  made  by  associating  these  subjects.  The 
effect  in  concept  life  will  be  felt  afterward  in  geography 
work  when  the  products  of  some  of  our  western  states 
are  in  review  ;  indeed,  the  whole  significance  of  national 
products  to  national  life  will  be  more  clearly  appre- 
hended, more  vigorously  apperceived.  The  child  who 
has  worked  in  this  way  gains  sharper  perceptions  and 
truer  power  in  interpretation,  both  in  literature  and  in 
history. 

Science  work,  if  it  be  of  value,  leads  to  correct  habits 
in  the  observation  and  interpretation  of  nature.  This 
work  on  the  corn  plant  measured  as  science  is  attaining 


CORRELATION  OF  READING.  39 

this  end,  and  is  doing  so  more  surely  because  of  the  aid 
of  other  studies.  Looked  at  objectively,  every  separate 
subject  has  gained  by  the  correlation  ;  looked  at  sub- 
jectively, the  child  has  gained  because  of  the  vital  asso- 
ciations of  related  concepts,  and  because  of  the  resulting 
wholesome  stimulation  of  his  own  psychical  life.  All 
this  suggests  that  if  the  parts  of  knowledge  are  to  pos- 
sess real  significance,  they  must  be  seen  in  their  relation  ; 
it  suggests  that  one  cannot  indeed  understand  anything 
comprehensively  without  associating  it  with  all  vitally 
related  things. 

When  shall  we  relate  arithmetic  and  drawing  ? 
When  they  can  be  made  efficient  in  giving  sharpness 
and  accuracy  to  ideas.  When  literature  and  history  ? 
When  they  bear  an  intimate  and  valuable  relation  to 
the  subject  in  hand.  Remember  to  choose  wisely  the 
subjects  of  correlation,  to  introduce  them  at  the  right 
time  and  in  the  right  way,  so  that  definite  and  valuable 
returns  may  result  in  ideas  and  lively  interest,  and  then 
reading  will  be  truly  the  handmaid  of  the  other  studies 
in  school. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

METHOD   IN   BEADING. 

Reading  is  a  process  of  tliinking.  Any  method  of 
teaching  reading  must  be  modified  by  the  character  of 
the  thinking  process.  Any  scientific  metliod  of  teach- 
ing reading  must  not  only  be  in  harmony  with  this 
particular  thinking  process,  but  it  must  be  calculated 
to  promote  that  process  in  the  most  fortunate  way  and 
direct  it  to  definite  ends. 

Before  any  intelligent  discussion  of  a  method  in 
reading  is  j)ossible,  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  be- 
tween that  activity  which  must  be  put  forth  in  the 
mastery  of  a  written  or  printed  vocabulary  and  that 
which  makes  up  the  reading  process  proper.  The 
activity  of  accurately  learning  the  form  of  a  word  is 
unlike  that  put  forth  in  recalling  and  relating  concepts 
under  the  functioning  of  written  words.  Only  the 
latter  is  reading. 

The  ease  and  success  of  reading  must  always  be 
measured  — 

(1)  By  the  possession  of  accurate  visual  images  of 

words, 

(2)  By  the  possession  of  vivid  concepts  associated 

with  these  words, 

(3)  By  power  in  uniting  concepts  or  ideas  into  defi- 

nite thoughts. 

40 


METHOD  IN  READING.  41 

The  best  means  of  securing  such  mastery  of  words 
must  always  remain  an  important  feature  of  the  work  of 
learning  to  read,  but  mere  word  drills  must  be  sharply 
separated  from  reading  proper  or  confusion  results. 

There  are  four  so-called  methods  of  teaching  reading 
that  are  each  worthy  of  thoughtful  attention-.-  ::-i» _ 

A.  TJie  Phonic  MethoS/^This  deals  essentially  with 
the  mastery  of  words,  and  like  the  old  alphabet  method 
is  not  a  method  in  reading  proper.  In  the  phonic 
method  words  are  analyzed  into  sounds,  and  each  sound 
is  associated  with  its  proper  character.  There  is  a 
carefully  graded  procedure  through  the  various  vowel 
and  consonant  sounds  —  children  learning  the  diacriti- 
cal marks  which  distinguish  the  various  sounds,  as  the 
work  proceeds.  Power  to  help  himself  to  the  new  word 
is  gained  by  the  child,  and  great  skill  and  power  in  the 
recognition  of  new  words  is  often  acquired  in  the  first 
year  by  this  method.  The  opponents  of  the  phonic 
system  claim  that,  while  progress  is  apparently  more 
rapid  in  the  early  years,  results  do  not  persist.  j 

Skilful  teachers  who  use  this  device  are  careful  to 
separate  the  phonic  drill  from  reading  proper,  making 
the  phonic  exercise  a  mere  gymnastic  which  aims  to     / 
sharpen  perception  for  words  and  sounds.     That  this/    "^ 
is  not  a  method  in  reading    cannot   be   too    strongly        / 
emplmsized. 

B.  The  Word  Method.  —  The  word  is  an  object 
sharply  individualized  —  an  object  that  must  be  ana- 
Ijzed  and  recognized  as  an  individual.  The  mastery 
of  the  word  which  is  presented  first  as  a  whole  and 
recognized  first  as  a  whole,  is  the  aim  of  the  so-called 
word  method.     This  method  aims  at  the  sharp  imaging 


42  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

of  words  so  that  recognition  is  faultless  and  reproduc- 
tion accurate.  This  method  groups  closely  related 
words,  and  has  been  further  developed  by  the  "Ward  sys- 
tem which  has  thoroughly  analyzed  and  classified  the 
words  of  the  language  and  planned  a  carefully  graded 
procedure  in  word  mastery.  It  should  be  remarked 
that  this  method  does  not  deal  with  the  reading  pro- 
cess: it  aims  primarily  at  word  mastery. 

C.  The  Sentence  Method.  —  The  sentence  is  the  ex- 
pression of  a  thought.  It  is  the  unit  of  language. 
The  sentence  method  presents  the  sentence  as  a  whole 
to  beginners.  This  is  recognized  as  a  whole  and  after- 
ward analyzed  into  words.  There  is  a  carefully  graded 
procedure,  those  sentence  forms  being  selected  first  that 
promise  the  most  interesting  reading  for  the  child  with 
the  introduction  of  the  fewest  possible  new  words. 
Care  is  taken  to  develop  the  "  sentence  sense  "  —  the 
power  of  accurate  and  fairly  rapid  sentence  grasp. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  word  and  sentence  methods 
are  closely  united,  in  that  the  teachers  who  employ  the 
latter  make  the  thorough  mastery  of  the  word  an  im- 
portant feature  of  the  work.  Such  teachers  claim 
that  this  method  induces  right  habits  in  reading,  since 
it  makes  it  possible  for  the  work  of  thought  grasp  to 
begin  at  once.  Spontaneous  interest  is  thus  made  pos- 
sible, while  much  of  the  work  of  word  mastery  goes  on 
unconsciously  through  the  repetition  of  the  old  vocabu- 
lary in  new  relations. 

D.  The  Concentration  Method. — This  is  based  on  a 
principle  that  lies  at  the  basis  of  all  teaching. 

The  field  of  vision  gives  us  a  varying  number  of 
objects  representing  varying  degrees  of  clearness,  the 


METHOD  IN  READING.  43 

clearest  being  in  the  centre  of  the  field,  while  the 
remaining  objects  diminish  in  clearness  according  to 
their  distance  from  the  centre. 

This  law  operating  in  the  field  of  vision  arises  from 
the  structure  of  the  eye,  but  it  is  controlled  by  the 
operation  of  the  mind.  We  focus  our  eyes  on  the  ob- 
ject which  we  wish  to  see,  and  so  bring  it  into  the 
centre  of  the  field  of  vision,  and  give  it  the  greatest 
possible  degree  of  clearness.  This  increases  the  sharp- 
ness of  the  impression  gained,  and  adds  distinctness  to 
the  resulting  sense  perception. 

Attention  is  a  mental  focussing.  It  is  the  mind  that 
sees.  When  one  desires  to  see  an  object  lying  in  the 
range  of  vision,  the  eye  simply  aids  the  mind,  and  the 
result  is  the  focussing  of  consciousness,  which  gives  sharp 
outline  to  the  object  of  attention.  The  process  is  simi- 
lar in  attention,  whether  senses  are  active  or  not :  always 
there  is  a  narrowing  or  focussing  of  consciousness  on  the 
object  of  thought  so  that  clearness  results.  This  simple 
law  controls  all  productive  mental  activity.  In  what- 
ever way  the  child's  mind  is  active,  the  clearness  of  the 
resulting  images  or  ideas  will  be  measured  by  the  quality 
of  the  attention  given  the  object.  There  is  absolutely 
no  comparison  between  the  results  gained  from  a  few 
seconds  of  activity  where  there  is  a  complete  focussing 
of  consciousness  on  the  object  of  thought,  and  those 
arising  from  many,  many  minutes,  or  even  hours  of 
partial  concentration. 

The  concentration  method  recognizes  the  above  prin- 
ciple. It  secures  attention  through  interest.  It  rec- 
ognizes that  interest  centres  in  content,  never  in  form; 
it   therefore   chooses    for   the   reading  work   material 


44  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

drawn  from  "  central  subjects "  in  which  the  chikl  is 
vitally  interested.  It  depends  on  the  vital  force  of 
a  simple  and  genuine  interest  for  the  overcoming  of 
formal  difficulties  in  reading  as  well  as  for  inducing 
that  thought  process  which  is  reading.  Its  categorical 
imperatives  are  :  — 

(1)  Everything  with  attention. 

(2)  Interest  the  condition  of  attention. 

(3)  Right  content  rightly  mastered,  the  condition  of 

interest. 

This  method  has  led  to  some  of  the  most  charming 
and  wholesome  devices  in  reading  work,  and  has  done 
much  toward  helping  us  to  teach  reading.  ^ 

The  concentration  method  does  not  stop  with  devices 
that  are  calculated  to  fasten  the  child's  attention  on  the 
word,  the  visual  image  of  which  is  to  be  formed,  it  both 
secures  sharp  sense  images  and  also  aims  to  put  the 
child  in  possession  of  a  store  of  clear,  animated  sense 
concepts,  as  well  as  of  visual  and  auditory  word  images. 
In  the  reading  process  proper  it  asks  that  the  mental 
energy  should  be  focussed  on  the  thought  process  proper. 

Whether  we  prepare  for  work  in  the  primary  class 
by  teaching  a  ^limited  vocabulary  of  words  or  start  at 
once  with  the  sentence,  being  careful  that  word  mastery 
become  a  feature  of  the  work,  is  probably  unimportant; 
but  the  concentration  method  points  to  the  condition 
under  which  all  progress  in  reading  must  take  place, 
i.e.  a  condition  of  productive  self-activity. 

It  must  be  observed  that   the  so-called  methods  of 

1  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  this  method,  as  well  as  of  other  methods 
in  reading,  see  "Talks  on  Pedagogics,"  by  Francis  W.  Parker,  E.  L. 
Kellogg  &  Co.  ijublishers. 


METHOD  IN  BEADING.  45 

teaching  reading  are  all  of  them,  with  the  exception  of 
the  concentration  method,  devices  for  helping  children 
over  the  early  difficulties  of  the  subject.  Most  teachers 
who  have  studied  methods  of  teaching  reading  are  con- 
scious of  no  method  that  extends  with  success  in  its 
application  beyond  the  early  primary  grades.  For  this 
reason,  on  the  part  of  really  well-trained  teachers,  the 
teaching  of  reading  grows  more  and  more  unscientific 
and  unsatisfactory  from  its  inception  in  the  first  grade. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  concentration  method  is  admira- 
bly adapted  to  secure  an  excellent  reading  habit,  since 
the  vigorous  use  of  the  mental  activity  in  the  reading 
process  itself  is  its  conspicuous  feature. 

It  should  be  remarked  that  the  relational  element  in 
the  sentence  is  its  distinguishing,  its  essential  feature. 
Not  concepts,  but  related  concepts,  give  thoughts  ;  not 
words,  but  words  in  relation,  must  help  to  the  essential 
thinking  process  in  reading.  Everj'-thing  that  detracts 
from  the  power  to  give  the  mind  fully  and  freely  to  the 
work  of  relating  ideas  hinders  in  the  reading  process. 
Everything  that  exalts  this  power  of  relating  ideas 
furthers  it. 

Let  us  see  what  occurs  when  we  read  the  following 
passage  from  Shakespeare's  "  Merchant  of  Venice  "  :  — 

"  There's  not  the  smallest  orb  which  thou  behold'st. 
But  in  his  motion  like  an  angel  sings. 
Still  quiring  to  the  young-eyed  cherubims." 

Concepts  or  ideas  enter  consciousness  recalled  by 
the  words  that  meet  the  eye  ;  the  stream  of  con- 
sciousness is  regulated  by  the  words  themselves.  These 
ideas   enter   consciousness  as  active   forces   and  blend 


46  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

and  modify  one  another.  Tliere  is  not  a  word  in  the 
passage  that  does  not  contribute  something  to  this 
modification  and  movement  of  thought.  "  Behold'st " 
suggests  rapt  seeing,  "  quiring  "  a  full  swell  of  harmony, 
"  young-eyed  "  the  eternal  youth,  the  watchfulness  and 
intelligence  of  the  angel,  "  cherubims  "  names  one  of 
the  choirs  nearest  God.  But  this  halting  definition  is 
not  what  occurs  when  best  reading  takes  place.  The 
flow  of  ideas  is  not  only  regulated  by  the  words,  but  it 
is  as  rhythmical  and  as  perfectly  modulated  as  the 
lines  themselves.  The  teacher  who  is  doing  work  in 
intensive  reading  over  such  rare  passages  carefully 
recalls  related  ideas,  discusses  certain  words,  challenges 
the  apprehension  of  grammatical  relation,  etc.,  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  in  the  expressive  reading  that  fol- 
lows, a  full,  smooth  flow  of  related  ideas.  Under  such 
concept  movement  reading  becomes  delightful.  Some 
measure  of  this  activity  must  be  induced  or  reading 
does  not  take  place. 

There  are  at  least  two  essential  features  to  the  think- 
ing process  that  we  call  reading.  The  first  consists  in 
the  essential  concept  movement  of  which  the  above  is 
an  illustration.  This  flow  of  ever  changing  thought 
goes  on  continuously  when  we  read  continuously.  It 
makes  up  the  stream  of  ever  moving,  continuously 
modified,  associated  ideas  which  the  series  of  related 
words  that  pass  under  the  eye  recalls.  Through  this 
process  we  come  into  possession  of  thoughts  successively. 

Another  feature  of  the  thought  process  which  con- 
stitutes reading  is  what  may  be  called  the  tliought  devel- 
opment. In  a  complete  production  the  successive  para- 
graphs and  chapters  stand  in  intimate  sequence  —  the 


METHOD  IN  READING.  47 

content  of  one  having  a  direct  bearing  on  the  following. 
The  mind  of  the  reader,  grasping  and  holding  closely 
the  main  thought  of  each  paragraph  or  chapter  as  one 
succeeds  the  other,  approaches  steadily  the  central  con- 
ception that  constituties  the  kernel  of  the  whole  produc- 
tion, e.g. :  A  class  reading  Shakespeare's  "  Macbeth  "  can 
appreciate  Act  I.,  Scene  VII.,  only  as  they  have  followed 
the  developing  sequence  of  forces  that  culminate  here 
in  the  deliberation  and  choice  of  Macbeth. ^ 

Doubtless  this  phase  of  the  reading  process  is  most  ac- 
curately secured  by  thinking  through  the  whole.  It  is  a 
process  in  which  comparison  and  judgment  are  active  and 
may  properly  be  regarded  as  a  process  of  reflection,  while 
the  first  is  more  properly  a  process  of  concentration. 

This  activity  of  recalling  and  relating  ideas  so  as 
clearly  to  grasp  the  thought  content  begins  when  the 
child  reads  his  first  sentences  in  the  primary  school ; 
the  process  of  thought  development  begins  when  he 
grasps  related  sentences  in  succession  and  gets  the 
bearing  of  the  whole,  or  when  he  is  able  to  read  a  simple 
story  and  see  the  significance  of  one  part  in  relation  to 
another  and  to  the  whole.  There  is  almost  no  limit 
to  the  possible  development  of  power  in  each  of  these 
phases  of  the  reading  activity. 

The  teacher  who  would  become  a  student  of  method 
in  reading  must  study  everything  that  furthers  this 
essential  reading  process.  Some  of  these  things  have 
already  been  discussed  under  Apperception  and  Read- 
ing and  the  Correlation  of  Reading  with  other  Studies. 
We  shall  see  some  other  important  principles  in  the 
methodical  teaching  of  reading  in  succeeding  chapters. 
1  See  Appendix  III.  and  Chapter  XIII. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

BEGINNING   TO   READ. 

The  work  of  beginning  reading  is  attended  with  diffi- 
culty. This  arises  from  the  fact  that,  first,  a  written 
language  must  be  mastered ;  and  second,  with  the  ear- 
liest act  of  gaining  thought  through  the  functioning  of 
written  words,  the  habit  of  sentence  grasp  must  be  vigor- 
ously initiated. 

Furthermore,  there  are  minor  difficulties  of  making 
transition  from  script  to  print,  from  board  work  to 
printed  slips  and  books,  while  the  need  of  daily  repeti- 
tion of  the  growing  vocabulary,  in  order  that  it  may  be 
thoroughly  known,  is  ever  present.  Added  to  this, 
teachers  in  the  first  and  second  grades  find  few  books 
at  their  disposal  that  are  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of 
their  classes.  This  is  especially  true  in  large  cities 
where  children  have  had  little  free  experience  in  the 
country  and  therefore  have  few  and  vague  ideas  relat- 
ing to  the  subjects  presented  in  these  books  and  conse- 
quently little  interest  for  the  books  themselves. 

A  thoughtful  study  of  the  foregoing  suggests  to  the 
teacher  that  in  preparing  for  her  first  reading  lesson 
she  has  first  to  find  a  subject  to  which  the  child  will 
gladly  turn  as  an  object  of  thought.  From  whatever 
source  it  is  drawn  it  must  represent  to  the  child  an 
object  of  interest  and  an  object  of  Avhich  he  has  formed 
a  clear  visual  image. 

48 


BEGINNING   TO  READ.  49 

In  the  reading  lesson  proper  the  teacher  desires  the 
visual  activity  to  be  centred  on  word  or  sentence. 
She  therefore  arranges  work  so  that  the  children  shall 
have  previously  satisfied  their  perceptive  activity  over 
the  object  which  is  to  become  the  subject  of  the  lesson. 
In  this  way  the  danger  of  divided  attention  is  avoided. 

In  the„  talk  that  makes  up  the  body  of  the  first  lesson 
all  the  thinking  mnst^centre  on  this  subject.  If  the 
teacher  desires  to  introduce  the  name  of  the  object  first, 
she  may,  while  uttering  the  word,  write  it  on  the  board. 
The  next  time  she  omits  the  utterance,  substituting  the 
written  form  for  the  oral.  In  this  way  the  children 
recall  the  concept  through  the  visual  form,  and  the  work 
of  associating  the  idea  with  the  written  word  that  repre- 
sents it  is  begun.  Again  and  again  in  the  first,  brief, 
animated  talk,  is  the  word  clearly  and  rapidly  written, 
and  each  time  at  a  moment  when  attention  is  at  its  best 
—  at  a  moment  when  the  written  form  will  recall  its 
appropriate  idea.  If  a  short  sentence  is  written  first, 
the  procedure  is  the  same. 

Children  enjoy  the  novelty  of  an  exercise  of  this  sort. 
This  fact  is  an  important  advantage  for  the  teacher,  for 
before  the  pleasure  in  the  novelty  of  the  exercise  is  gone, 
a  sustained  interest  in  the  work  must  be  created. 

A  few  words  or  short  sentences  may  be  presented  in 
this  way,  the  crayon  doing  the  talking  for  a  part  of  the 
time.  Such  connection  of  spoken  and  written  language  ■ 
should  make  one  of  the  most  profitable  and  pleasant 
devices  in  the  early  reading  lessons.  One  thing  should 
be  remembered  :  words  or  sentences  should  be  written 
clearly  when  there  is  perfect  concentration  of  attention 
on  the  part  of  the  class,  and  they  should  never  be  left 


50  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

on  the  board  for  half  looking,  but  the  challenge  for 
rapid,  accurate  seeing  should  be  always  made.  Hence, 
as  the  work  progresses  words  should  be  more  and  more 
rapidly  written  and  more  quickly  erased. 

These  early  sentences  should  represent  a  subject  with 
an  active  verb.  The  utmost  life  and  animation  should 
enter  into  the  work  of  getting  thought  through  these 
sentences,  e.g. :  — 

The  caterpillar  eats. 
The  caterpillar  sleeps. 
The  caterpillar  crawls. 

My  bird  eats. 
My  bird  sleeps. 
My  bird  flies. 

"  Remember  that  if  the  word  is  used  first  it  must  be 
quickly  followed  by  the  sentence  ;  the  sentence,  if 
introduced  first,  must  be  analyzed  into  words.  Every 
effort  should  be  made  to  have  the  child  grow  to  the 
recognition  of  the  sentence  unity  and  to  develop  the  j 
"sentence  sense."  He  should  be  taught  to  read  not 
word  by  word  but  sentence  by  sentence,  i.e.  the  natural 
pause  should  be  made  at  the  end  of  the  sentence,  not 
after  each  word.  When  one  writes  on  the  board  "  The 
bird  sleeps,"  he  makes  it  possible  for  the  act  of  reading 
to  begin.  Nothing  less  than  subject  and  predicate  in 
relation  will  do  this.  If  words  are  used  first,  they  must 
be  regarded  as  a  mere  preparation  for  the  work  of  read- 
ing proper.  It  may  be  questioned  if  this  fact  is  not 
fundamental  enough  to  warrant  the  assertion  that  from 

1  For  further  valuable  suggestions  see  "Organic  Education." 
Scott,  published  by  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


BEGINNING    TO  READ.  51 

the  very  beginning  of  any  attempt  to  read,  the  sentence 
itself  must  be  the  means. 

But  in  avoiding  Scylla  let  us  not  fall  into  Charybdis. 
Words,  as  constituent  parts  of  the  sentence,  must  be 
mastered  and  mastered  thoroughly.  I  wish  my  class  in 
zoology  to  see  the  jumping  legs  of  the  grasshopper  first 
in  their  original  position.  This  does  not,  however,  in 
the  least  forbid  dissection.  The  very  nature  of  the 
reading  process  makes  it  necessary  that  the  mind  be 
able  to  give  itself  to  the  thought  activity.  In  order  to 
do  this  it  must  be  as  nearly  unconscious  as  possible  of 
the  visual  perception  of  words.  Complete  word  mastery 
alone  makes  this  possible.  I  must  ask  my  class  to  work 
with  sentences  then,  when  they  read,  but  I  must  faith- 
fully carry  on  daily  exercises  that  train  them  in  the 
sharp  visual  imaging  of  words.  The  word  drill  must 
be  an  essential  feature  of  primary  reading  work.  Only 
it  must  be  made  word-seeing  not  word-saying. ^ 

At  first  the  child's  perceptive  activity  is  probably 
helped  by  seeing  the  teacher  write  the  new  word  or 
sentence,  and  he  will  not  need  to  be  told  to  "  Watch 
while  I  write."  The  teacher  who  studies  every  con- 
dition that  aids  perceptive  activity  will  succeed  best 
in  helping  her  class  over  the  difficult  work  of  mastering 
words  thoroughly.     The  spacing  of  words  and  sentences 

1  A  large  number  of  repetitions  are  necessary  before  the  word  be- 
comes a  durable  possession  as  an  accurate  visual  and  auditory  image. 
Children  in  the  first  and  second  grades  should  have  many  short  books 
calculated  to  give  them  new  ideas  and  therefore  interesting  reading 
through  their  old  vocabulary.  ("  The  Life  of  a  Bean,"  see  Appendix 
I.,  illustrates  such  a  book.)  On  such  natural  form  of  repetition  all 
students  of  a  new  language  depend  for  the  complete  mastering  of  a 
vocabulary.     The  child,  too,  is  learning  a  new,  a  written  language. 


52  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

on  the  board  should  be  considered  ;  words  that  stand 
too  near  each  other  lose  something  of  their  sharpness 
of  outline;  words  too  far  apart  cannot  be  readily  com- 
pared. The  lines  of  the  writing  should  be  clear  and 
firm.  All  eccentricities  of  form  should  be  avoided. 
Simple,  clear,  vertical  writing  should  introduce  the 
child  to  the  work.^ 

Let  the  teacher  help  the  child  in  every  way  to  the 
accurate  perception  of  words  and  sentences,  and  then 
count  it  a  crime  to  hurry  the  work  bevoiid  the  pace 
thsr"Wili"'"give"  p_e2;f ect  jnastefy]  S^udy7  therefore,  to 
readTas  many  things  as  possible  Avith  the  little,  growing 
vocabulary  of  words,  so  that  there  may  be  much  repeti- 
tion with  variety.  The  choice  of  the  first  vocabulary 
should  be  carefully  considered.  Choose  only  the  words 
that  can  appear  again  and  again  in  stories  that  the 
children  enjoy.  The  teacher  should  keep  a  record  of 
the  child's  growing  vocabulary,  and  know  if  any  words 
in  this  vocabulary  are  doubtfully  mastered.  Children 
are  able  to  recognize  a  new  word  as  it  recurs  again 
and  again  in  the  board  lesson,  but  that  same  word  is 
at  best  a  partial  stranger  if  a  few  days  intervene  with- 
out  its   repetition.       Inexperienced  teachers,  deceived 

1 "  Dr.  Cohn  r^sum^s  his  rules  [on  the  hygiene  of  reading]  as  follows : 
In  the  future  I  would  have  all  school  authorities,  with  measuring  rule 
in  hand,  place  upon  the  Index  librorum  iwohihitoriim,  all  school  books 
which  do  not  conform  to  the  following  measurements :  The  height  of 
the  smallest  'n'  must  be  at  least  1.5  mm.  [.06  inches],  the  least 
width  between  the  lines  must  be  at  least  2.5  mm.  [.1  inches],  the 
least  thickness  of  the  'n'  must  be  .25  mm.  [.01  inches],  the  shortest 
distance  between  the  letters  .75  mm.  [.03  inches],  the  greatest  length 
of  text  line  100  mm  [.4  inches],  and  the  number  of  letters  on  a  line 
must  not  exceed  60."  "  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  II."  This  may  be 
made  suggestive  in  board  work. 


BEGINNING   TO  BEAD.  53 

by  the  apparent  precosity  of  the  child,  are  wont  to  in- 
crease the  vocabulary  too  rapidly,  onl}^  to  find  after 
a  few  weeks  that  few  words  are  really  known.  Read- 
ing under  such  conditions  becomes  impossible,  since  it 
inevitably  compels  the  child  to  concentrate  his  energies 
on  word  pronunciation  in  the  reading  hour.  It  is 
doubtful,  indeed,  if  a  single  right  habit  in  reading  can 
exist  under  such  conditions. 

A  class  probably  cannot  learn  more  than  one  new 
word  a  day  on  an  average.  In  any  case  they  should 
prove  by  the  thoroughness  of  the  work  that  they  are 
capable  of  mastering  more  before  this  number  is  in- 
creased. The  reading  hour  should  be  short,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, should  recur  several  times  during  the  school  daj'. 
Lessons  should  be  planned  that  will  introduce  old  words 
again  and  again  in  new  combinations.  For  this  reason 
serial  lessons  are  excellent.  The  teacher  who  is  able 
to  write  a  series  of  simple  stories  about  one  particular 
object  will  find  that  words  will  naturally  repeat  them- 
selves, while  the  interest  generated  in  one  lesson  appears 
as  expectation  and  increased  interest  in  the  next  lesson. 

But  while  the  growth  of  the  vocabulary  should  be 
slow,  the  general  pace  or  rate  of  the  mental  activity 
during  the  lesson  hour  must  not  drag.  Most  young 
teachers  make  the  mistake  of  working  too  slowly  with 
their  classes.  The  chikrs  mind  should  be  challenged; 
it  should  be  made  to  do  not  only  accurate  visualizing 
and  exact  thinking,  but  it  should  be  made  to  do  this 
as  quickly  as  it  can  be  done  and  done  well.  Indeed,  it 
must  be  done  quickly  if  it  is  done  well. 

That  the  rate  of  procedure  has  a  direct  influence  on 
the  process  of  concentration  has  not  been  sufficiently 


54  MANUAL   OF  BEADING; 

understood.  Movement  is  one  of  the  striking  features 
of  concept  life.  Animated  movement  not  only  ex- 
presses interest,  but  tends  directly  toward  the  promo- 
tion of  interest. 

Even  in  intensive  thinking,  when  there  seems  to  be 
little  forward  movement  of  mind,  there  is,  nevertheless, 
a  strong  movement  about  the  object  of  thought.  Con- 
cept movement  often  characterizes  the  going  deeply 
into  a  subject,  and  becomes  a  movement  down  and 
around,  rather  than  onward. 

Children  skip  and  run ;  the  sober  pace  of  the  grown- 
up is  often  a  trial  to  them.  What  is  their  natural 
mental  pace  ?  Do  we  hurt  our  classes  most  by  strong, 
firm,  onward  movement  or  by  a  hesitating  pace  that 
induces  a  habit  of  mental  lounging,  Avhere  they  look 
without  seeing,  and  listen  without  hearing,  and  read 
without  thinking? 

Study  the  rate  of  movement  in  the  reading  lesson. 
Adjust  the  pace  to  the  general  condition  of  the  class 
and  to  the  character  of  the  thought  itself.  Just  as  a 
stream  begins  to  deposit  the  material  that  it  is  carrying 
when  movement  becomes  slow,  so  thought  activity  be- 
gins to  drop  and  lose  its  treasures  under  the  retarded 
pace.  Do  not  let  the  stream  of  consciousness  slow 
down  beyond  the  carrying  point. 

The  first  work  in  reading  gains  its  chief  significance 
from  the  great  fact  that  it  is  initiating  the  most  funda- 
mental and  valuable  intellectual  habit.     The  reading 

1  The  study  of  the  motor  side  has  greatly  helped  in  the  work  of 
securing  better  habits  of  attention  in  the  schoolroom.  Frequent  and 
appropriate  motor  reactions  should  follow  periods  of  intense  concen- 
tration. 


BEGINNING   TO  READ.  55 

habit,  reading  power,  is  the  most  precious  intellectual 
gift  that  the  school  holds  for  the  child.  If  this  habit 
fail  of  initiation  in  the  first  year  there  is,  for  the  aver- 
age child,  but  slender  chance  of  its  afterward  being 
induced  with  real  vigor  and  power.  The  teacher  of 
the  first  grade  who  has  trained  a  class  that  concen- 
trate immediately  on  the  subject  of  thought,  when 
they  reach  the  reading  hour,  and  wdio  love  these  hours 
and  their  reading  book,  has  performed  a  work  in  their 
intellectual  training  of  unequalled  importance. 

We  might  projDerly  regard  first-year  work  as  the 
place  wdiere  the  school  initiates  habit.  It  is  here  that 
the  habit  of  spelling  is  formed.  The  reading  lesson 
and  language  lesson  provide  the  important  opportunity 
for  learning  to  spell.  When  the  teacher  in  the  reading 
hour  trains  her  class  to  note  accurately  the  form  of 
the  new  words,  to  distinguish  carefully  these  words 
from  related  words  so  that  the  visual  image  is  abso- 
lutely definite,  she  is  doing  excellent  work  in  spelling. 
She  is  doing  the  same  excellent  work  when,  in  the 
written  language  lesson,  she  trains  the  child  never  to 
create  a  word  about  the  form  of  which  he  is  doubtful. 
Such  training  develops  the  habit  of  spelling  correctly. 
This  consists  of  the  habit  — 

(1)  Of  attending  sharply  to  the  form  of  new  words. 

(2)  Of  looking  up  faithfully  all  doubtful  words. 

Children  in  the  early  grades  should  be  taught  to  ask 
for  words  about  which  they  feel  doubt  (this  asking 
habit  being  transformed  later  to  the  habit  of  consult- 
ing the  dictionary).  At  the  beginning  of  a  written 
language   exercise    that    involves   words   with    whose 


56  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

forms  the  cliildren  are  doubtfully  familiar,  the  class 
may  be  allowed  to  make  a  list  of  words  that  they  think 
they  will  need,  and  the  teacher  should  write  them  on 
the  board,  where  they  remain  during  the  subsequent 
hour. 

In  the  work  of  beginning  to  read  the  teacher  must 
initiate  the  habit  — 

(1)  Of  forming  accurate  visual  and  auditory  images 

of  words. 

(2)  The  habit  of  concentrating  on  thought  through 

the  written  sentence. 

In  doing  this  the  work  of  reading  begins. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  READING  PEOCESS. 

r  From  the  preceding,  it  becomes  obvious  that  the 
■^  power  to  grasp  thought  will  be  largely  measured  by 
power  in  concentration.  If  a  young  man  in  the  high 
school  is  to  possess  the  power  that  will  enable  him  to 
read  "  Julius  Ctesar  "  with  a  clear  grasp  of  the  central 
thought,  he  must  be  able  to  see  the  bearing  of  one 
thing  on  another  ;  the  relation  of  parts  and  the  propor- 
tion of  the  whole  must  stand  out  clearly  in  his  mind. 
The  development  of  such  power  should  begin  in  the 
first  primary  class,  and  it  should  continue  uninter- 
ruptedly throughout  school  life. 

The  observance  of   a   few  simple  laws  will   greatly 
aid  in  the  development  of  such  power  :  — 

(1)  The  child  should  concentrate  as  much  as  pos- 

sible on  the  thought  from  the  beginning. 

(2)  He  should  be  taught  to  grasp  sentence  wholes 

from  the  beginning. 

(3)  He  should  exercise  the  maximum  of  his  power 

in  doing  this  quickly  and  accurately.  The 
law  should  be,  the  highest  speed  consistent 
with  the  greatest  accuracy. 

(4)  The  written  symbol  should  recall   the  concept 

directly,  never  the  concept  through  the  oral 
word. 

57 


68 


MANUAL   OF  READING. 


Just  as  the  child  gains  the  thought  immediately 
through  the  spoken  word,  so  he  should  grasp  it  through 
the  written  word.  The  latter  should  be  much  the 
easier  and  swifter  process.  / 


MOTOR  AREA 


The  Left  Hemisphere  of  the  Brain. 
S.  Represents  the  centre  for  speech. 
A.  Represents  the  auditory  centre. 
V.  Represents  the  visual  centre. 
I.  Represents  an  assumed  centre  for  ideational  activity. 

When  the  child  is  busy  listening  to  spoken  words  the' 
centres  A  and  I  are  active.  When  he  speaks  to  express 
thought  the  centres  I  and  S  are  active  with  a  kind  of 
resonant  activity  in  A  (since  one  hears  himself  speak, 
although  he  does  not  listen  consciously  to  his  own 
speech).     When  he  reads  to  get  thought,  V  and  I  are 


THE  READING  PROCESS.  59 

active.  When  he  reads  aloud  at  sight,  grasping  and 
giving  thought  at  the  same  time,  V  and  I  and  S  and  A 
are  all  active  at  once. 

Think  of  the  enormous  complexity  of  the  process  that 
is  forced  on  the  child  all  at  once  when  he  is  asked  in 
the  first  primary  grade  to  begin  at  once  to  read  aloud. 
He  is  doing  two  things  at  once,  for  two  distinct  pro- 
cesses are  involved :  the  first  is  the  thought  grasp,  the 
second  is  the  thought  expression ;  moreover,  these  two 
processes  are  somewhat  opposed  —  the  first  being  the 
receptive  form  of  self-activity,  the  second  the  impulsive 
form.  Plainly,  these  two  processes  must  be  separated 
in  the  beginning  ;  the  receptive  must  precede  the  im- 
pulsive, impression  must  precede  expression. 

Oral  reading  has  been  used  largely  as  a  device  for 
ascertaining  if  the  child  had  mastered  the  words. 
Mischievous  results  have  followed  the  abusive  use  of 
one  process  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  that  another  pro- 
cess has  been  performed. 

It  may  be  seriously  questioned  if  thousands  of  teach- 
ers who  are  teaching  children  "  reading  "  do  not  deem 
the  smooth  utterance  of  words  the  great  end  of  their 
work.  That  such  teaching  should  lead  directly  to  word 
pronunciation  where  no  whit  of  the  true  reading  process 
is  present,  is  not  strange. 

When  a  child  reads  words  only,  V  alone  is  active. 
When  he  reads  to  pronounce  words  merely,  V  and  S  are 
active  with  a  resonance  in  A.  In  both  cases  the  higher 
centre  is  inactive.  A  habit  of  this  kind  leaves  it  fallow. 
What  shall  we  say  of  an  education  that  induces  such 
habits  by  its  mode  of  procedure,  that  cripples  the  mind 
that  it  purposes  to  aid  by  leaving  the  higher  thinking 


y 


60  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

powers  stagnant  and  inactive  during  that  period  of  life 
when  the}'  should  be  developing  ?  If  these  powers  do 
not  gather  strength  and  gain  control,  from  whence  comes 
the  directing  force  in  the  individual  life  ?  Can  teaching 
be  stupid  and  ethical  at  the  same  time  ? 

Let  the  teacher  in  the  first  primary  room  write  a  story 
on  the  board.  Let  the  child  find  out  the  story,  and  then 
come  and  whisper  it  to  the  teacher.  Let  one  child 
whisper  the  story  to  the  teacher.  Let  the  teacher  write 
the  story  as  the  child  whispers  it,  class  get  the  thought, 
then  perform  an  act  to  prove  that  it  has  been  read. 

Let  the  children  ask  questions  about  the  object  in 
science  which  they  desire  to  have  answered  ;  the  crayon 
answering  them.  Let  the  teacher  write  questions,  the 
children  giving  answers.  Let  the  children  live  into  a 
picture,  teacher  tell  its  story  with  crayon  :  children 
silently  finding  out  and  telling  the  story.  Let  these 
and  many  other  devices  be  introduced,  that  will  enable 
the  child  at  the  beginning  of  reading  to  concentrate  his 
whole  power  on  the  one  great  process  of  grasping  the 
thought. 

Several  years  ago  I  saw  a  very  suggestive  first-grade 
lesson  under  the  direction  of  the  late  Dr.  Mary  V.  Lee. 
The  point  of  the  lesson  was  to  teach  the  children  the 
personal  pronouns.  The  children  read  each  story 
silently  and  then  acted  out  what  each  story  called  for 
while  they  read  the  story  aloud,  e.g.:  — 

We  have  a  book. 
You  have  a  box. 
I  have  the  buttercup. 
He  has  a  fan. 


THE  READING   PROCESS.  61 

The  work  delighted  the  children,  and  the  device 
separated  the  process  of  thought  getting  from  that  of 
thought  expression.  Children  should  frequently  be 
allowed  to  get  the  thought,  and  then  give  it  without 
any  reference  to  the  written  form.  Only  make  the 
challenge  severe  —  one  thing  at  a  time,  but  that  one 
thing  done  perfectly.  Teach  the  children  to  see  and 
see  quickly  and  accurately  ;  if  they  can  grasp  the 
thought  accurately  with  one  look,  so  much  the 
better. 

A  small  child  was  once  found  in  tears  over  his  arith- 
metic. His  mother  tried  to  comfort  him  and  said  : 
"Can't  you  get  the  answer  ?  Let  me  help  you."  "I 
can  get  the  answer  all  right,"'  he  sobbed,  "  but  it's  the 
process  that  kills  me."  Childi-en  may  be  trusted  to 
grasp  the  thought  through  written  words  with  astonish- 
ing rapidity  when  steps  are  carefully  taken,  but  when 
the  process  is  made  too  complex,  and  they  are  asked  to 
grasp  the  thought  and  give  it  at  once,  and  that  when 
words  as  written  symbols  are  as  strange  to  them  as 
Chinese  characters  are  to  us,  they  are  indeed  in  the 
sorry  plight  of  the  small  boy  with  his  arithmetic. 

If  the  teaching  of  physiological  psychology  is  true, 
then  the  menace  in  learning  to  read  is  in  making  the 
written  word  recall  the  oral  word  instead  of  immedi- 
ately recalling  the  idea.  Excessive  oral  reading  induces 
this  habit,  and  this  is  doubtless  why  in  nearly  every 
school  one  can  find  children  in  every  class  who  pro- 
nounce words,  merely.  They  have  been  required  to  do 
this  when  that  was  as  much  as  they  could  attend  to. 
The  words  they  must  pronounce  —  the  process  could 
be  simplified  only  by  leaving  out  the  thought  grasp. 


62  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

Sucli  children  exercise  V  and  S  and  A  (see  diagram), 
but  exercise  I  very  little,  if  at  all. 

A  young  teacher  in  a  recent  class  report  names  a 
child  who  is  one  of  the  poorest  readers  in  the  class, 
but  who  is  able  to  grasp  the  thought  accurately  at  one 
reading.  It  may  be  questioned  if  this  child  were  not 
the  best  reader  in  the  class.  Query,  —  Why  was  he  a 
poor  oral  reader  ? 

The  following  interesting  case  was  reported  by  an 
intelligent  teacher  who  believes  that  it  represents  a 
more  than  usually  natural  child  yielding  to  the  ten- 
dency to  give  himself  up  to  the  full  sway  of  the  thought 
process. 

"  In  a  reading  class  in  the  grammar  school  at  F , 

a  boy  of  thirteen  being  called  upon  one  day,  read  the 
first  few  sentences  smoothly  and  quickly,  but  gradually 
read  more  slowly,  till  at  last  he  ceased  to  speak  at  all. 
He  still  stood,  however,  book  in  hand,  and  evidently 
finished  the  selection,  when  he  resumed  his  seat  as 
though  nothing  unusual  had  happened.  When  ques- 
tioned by  the  teacher,  he  looked  surprised  and  a  little 
embarrassed,  but  replied,  '  I  read  it  all  ! ' 

"  This  frequently  happened  afterward.  Sometimes 
the  child  realized  what  he  had  done  and  apologized, 
offering  as  an  excuse  that  he  had  been  trying  to  find 
out  what  it  meant. 

"  This  boy  is  fairly  bright  in  all  his  subjects,  but  is 
an  especially  good  reader  and  an  excellent  story-teller. 
He  does  very  good  work  in  geography  and  is  a  wonder 
on  account  of  his  free  lead  pencil  sketches,  but  he  is 
not  up  to  the  average  in  arithmetic." 

Oral  reading  has  been  almost  the  only  device  used 


THE  BEADING  PROCESS.  63 

up  to  the  present  time  to  prove  that  the  child  has 
grasped  the  thought.  It  should  be  one  of  several 
important  devices.  The  teacher  should  make  the  board 
lesson  for  the  class  sometimes,  telling  the  story  orally 
and  using  the  written  form  for  a  part.  This  is  par- 
ticularly fortunate  where  dialogue  enters  or  a  story  is 
inserted  within  the  story  —  the  story  inserted  making 
the  written  part.  Such  writing  should  be  done  clearly 
and  rapidly,  and  when  interest  is  at  its  height,  the 
teacher  trusting  her  eyes  to  make  sure  that  the  thought 
is  grasped.  Again,  let  the  teacher  and  class  make  a 
board  story  together  while  some  member  of  the  class  i 
is  asked  to  leave  the  room.  When  he  returns  let  him  1 
read  the  story  silently,  and  then  read  to  the  class,  or 
better  still,  read  it  silently  and  then  turn  and  tell  the 
story  back  again  to  all.  No  better  concentration  could 
possibly  be  obtained  from  the  whole  class  than  through 
such  a  device. 

But  Avhen  would  you  unite  the  two  processes,  when 
would  you  have  the  work  of  grasping  and  giving 
thought  at  the  same  time  begin  ?  The  answer  is.  Just 
when  the  children  are  ready,  no  sooner.  Earlier  it 
cannot  begin  without  doing  infinite  harm.  When  the 
child  shows  you  by  undoubted  symptoms  that  he  is 
ready  to  carry  on  both  processes  at  once,  losing  no  whit 
of  his  hold  on  the  important  ideational  process,  let  him 
do  it.  He  will  read  to  you  then  exactly  as  he  would 
talk.  Expression  he  should  never  be  conscious  of  at 
all.  Indeed,  expression  in  oral  reading  is  a  matter  not 
to  be  discussed.  The  thought  itself  makes  its  own 
expression,  and  it  should  do  this  as  simply  and  perfectly 
in  the  case  of  oral  reading  as  in  the  case  of  speaking. 


64  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  in  suffering  from  brain  fag, 
or  any  other  condition  that  enfeebles  ideational  activity 
or  causes  it  to  cease  entirely,  we  miscall  more  words 
when  reading.  Errors  of  this  sort  are  sometimes  so 
egregious  as  to  be  startling.  If  we  are  reading  orally 
under  such  conditions,  we  often  stumble,  hesitate,  and 
read  in  a  generally  bungling  fashion.  Does  this  sug- 
gest that  the  higher  ideational  centres  when  function- 
ing vigorously  react  on  the  visual  and  speech  centres  as 
a  stimulating  force  ?  May  it  not  be  true  that  on  the 
psychical  side  as  on  the  physiological  the  higher  centres 
act  as  a  controlling  force  ?  May  not  the  ideational  pro- 
cess- be  the  governing  force  in  reading,  regulating  the 
rate  of  seeing  and  saying,  and  determining  the  char- 
acter of  the  visual  perceptions  themselves  as  well  as 
the  character  of  the  motor  impulses  ?  If  this  be  true,  it 
is  but  another  proof  that  the  centre  and  soul  and  life 
of  the  whole  a~ctivity  of  reading  is  the  thinking  process. 

From  every  side  it  becomes  apparent  that  the  impera- 
tive thing  is  to  secure  concentration  of  the  thought 
through  the  written  words.  Attention  fastens  on  the 
written  form  because  of  what  it  gains.  We  listen  be- 
cause we  get  something  by  means  of  the  auditory 
impressions.  Visual  and  auditory  impressions  when 
we  are  dealing  with  symbol?  function  with  respect  to 
something  else.  We  listen  to  words,  but  we  listen  for 
ideas.  I  look  to  see  the  word  and  through  it  seize  the 
idea.  If  the  content  presented  has  been  previously 
mastered,  the  incentive  for  the  visual  activity  is  gone. 

Reading  should  be,  throughout  the  grades,  the  most 
delightful  work  of  the  day,  as  it  is  the  most  important 
when  teachers  give  their  whole  thought  to  the  great 


THE  BEADING  PBOCESS.  65 

central  ideational  process  :  then  will  excellent  devices 
multiply  which  will  give  variety  and  zest,  making  read- 
ing attractive  from  its  very  beginning,  so  that  a  love 
for  books  will  begin  in  the  first  primary  grade,  and  a 
true  literary  taste  find  its  genesis  there. 

Let  us  repeat  the  few  important  truths  drawn  from  a 
study  of  the  psychology  of  reading  :  — 

(1)  The  grasp  of  thought  through  the  written  char- 

acters is  reading.  . 

(2)  The  processes  of  grasping  and  giving  thought 

are  two  processes  in  one. 

(3)  At  the  beginning  of   the  work  the   child  can 

master  but  one  of  these. 

(4)  He  reads  when  he  masters  the  first. 

(5)  The  forcing  of  the  two  processes  defeats  the  end 

of  reading.  It  interrupts  the  essential  idea- 
tional process  or  it  induces  a  halting  habit. 

(6)  The  child  should  unite  the  two  processes  when 

he  has  developed  the  power  to  do  so,  not 
sooner. 

(7)  The  higher  ideational   process   stimulates   and 

regulates  the  lower  visual  and  motor  activi- 
ties over  words  and  in  speech. 

(8)  Concentration  must  be  on  the  thought  through 

the  written  word. 

(9)  Heading   must    always    present    an    interesting 

content  in  order  to  secure  vigorous  ideational 
activity  that  will  act  as  an  incentive  to  the 
mastery  of  the  written  form. 


CHAPTER   XL 

PRINCIPLES  IN  APPLICATION. 

Reading,  as  has  been  seen,  is  a  process  of  thinking. 
The  symbols  are  mere  means,  the  process  par  excellence 
is  that  of  grasping  the  thought.  What  is  involved  in 
getting  the  thought  of  another  ?  Let  us  try  to  analyze 
this  process  on  which  all  the  work  of  reading  hinges, 
as  it  must  take  place  in  any  mind  in  order  that  it  may 
grasp  this  little  fragment  from  Browning  :  — 

The  year's  at  the  Spring, 
And  day's  at  the  morn. 
Morning's  at  seven ; 
The  hill-side's  dew-pearled ; 
The  lark's  on  the  wing, 
The  snail's  on  the  thorn  ; 
God's  in  his  heaven  — 
All's  right  with  the  world. 

As  we  have  seen,  thoughts  are  concepts  in  relation  ; 
thinking  is  bringing  concepts  into  relation.  We  have 
here  words  in  relation.  These  words  represent  con- 
cepts. The  relation  of  the  concepts  in  the  mind  of 
Browning  determined  in  the  main  the  relation  of  the 
words  in  this  poem.  The  process  of  getting  Brown- 
ing's thought  must  be  something  like  the  following  :  — 

(1)    My  eye  takes  in  the  words  of  the  poem  in  their 
relation. 


PRINCIPLES  IN  APPLICATION.  67 

(2)  These  words  recall  the  concepts  for  which  they 

stand  in  the  order  determined  by  the  words. 

(3)  These    concepts   are   related   in   consciousness. 

(See  p.  45.) 

On  what  condition  can  I  grasp  Browning's  thought  ? 
First,  on  the  condition  that  I  have  corresponding  con- 
cepts ;  second,  on  the  condition  that  I  can  bring  these 
concepts  into  corresponding  relations.^ 

Of  course  the  wealth  of  related  concepts  that  I  bring 
to  the  work  —  my  personal  attitude  toward  the  ideas 
involved,  the  amount  of  content  that  I  am  able  to  put 
into  such  words  as  "  God,"  "  heaven,"  "  world,"  "  All's 
right,"  "  dew-pearled,"  etc.,  will  be  strong  modifying 
influences.  But  the  main  process  described  above  must 
be  gone  through  by  every  mind  that  would  think 
Browning's  thought,  the  differences  in  details  are 
individual  variations.  Now  a  very  important  thing 
must  be  noted  in  this  reading  process.  Activity  must 
focus  in  the  ideational  process.  Consciousness  must 
be  centred  on  the  thought  relation.  The  mind 
must  be  intent  on  relating  ideas.  This  is  always 
true  of  one  who  is  reading  successfully.  The  recall  of 
words  should  be  automatic  and  unconscious.     Of -this 

1  "Getting  the  Author's  Thought"  is  a  somewhat  misleading  ex- 
pression. Every  thoughtful  student  in  psychology  knows  that  no 
one  could  possibly  expect  to  secure  a  succession  of  concepts  exactly 
similar  to  those  of  the  writer  whom  he  reads.  ^lore  than  this,  he 
knows  that  in  reading  one  of  his  own  productions  the  succession 
of  concepts  would  never  be  exactly  repeated,  hence,  the  thought  is, 
in  each  reproduction,  slightly  different  from  that  in  any  preceding 
one.  But  in  reading  the  author  largely  controls  our  thinking,  and  the 
expression,  "Getting  the  Author's  Thought,"  has  therefore  an  intel- 
ligible and  justifiable  use. 


68  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

recall  we  probably  are  unconscious  if  concentration  is 
perfect. 

It  is  very  clear  that  the  teacher  who  regards  reading 
as  a  process  of  thought  getting  will  proceed  in  one 
way,  while  the  teacher  who  thinks  of  reading  as  an 
oral  exercise  carried  on  in  connection  with  the  book 
will  proceed  in  quite  another  way.  The  first  will 
direct  all  her  efforts  toward  inducing  a  vigorous  carry- 
in^-out  of  the  central  process.  Her  devices  will  all 
tend  to  concentration  on  it.  She  will  measure  her  suc- 
cess by  the  growing  power  of  the  children  to  live  into 
now  one  form  of  literature,  now  another.  She  will  find 
no  limit  to  the  possible  power  that  may  be  developed. . 
She  will  be  surprised  at  the  variety  and  individual  char- 
acter of  the  children's  responses.  She  will  be  gratified 
by  the  growing  interest.  She  is  working  with  the  cen- 
tral life  of  her  subject,  and  the  children  respond  with 
thought,  emotion,  desire,  living  images,  growing  im- 
pulse, and  this  life  that  she  is  helping  on  in  its  develop- 
ment reacts  as  a  quickening  force  upon  her  own.  She 
is  teaching. 

The  second  teacher,  who  has  her  psychical  vision 
fixed  upon  oral  expression  as  the  end  in  view,  pro- 
ceeds quite  differently.  The  words  must  be  properly 
uttered.  What  now  is  the  right  expression  ?  Since 
she  has  no  rational  means  of  determining  this,  she 
must  find  a  more  formal  way.  The  reading  must  not 
drag,  enunciation  must  be  clear,  pauses  must  be  made 
in  the  right  place.  The  child  must  hold  his  book  in 
the  right  hand.  The  head  must  be  held  erect ;  he 
must  count  one  (silently)  for  the  comma,  two  for  the 
semicolon,  three  for  the  colon,  and  four  for  the  period. 


PEINCIPLES  IN  APPLICATION.  69 

From  this  teaching  two  results  follow.  Mary  astonishes 
us  by  the  glib  way  in  which  she  rattles  off  her  stanza 
of  the  "  Psalm  of  Life,"  and  we  question  gravely  if  she 
knows  what  she  is  reading.  Mary  sits  with  satisfied 
pride.  She  knows  that  the  teacher  herself  could  not 
have  gone  through  the  process  more  expeditiously. 
John,  poor  fellow,  who  is  not  often  called  on,  rises 
doubtfully  and  utters  his  stanza  a  word  at  a  time,  with 
pauses  of  varying  lengths,  depending  on  the  difficulty  of 
the  word  to  be  pronounced.  The  voice  keeps  the  forced 
"dead  level."  He  is  ashamed  of  himself,  and  he  hates 
reading.  Mary  and  John  are  exceptions,  but  they  are 
exceptions  found  in  most  schools,  and  in  some  schools 
these  exceptions  are  numerous  enough  well-nigh  to  make 
the  rule. 

When  one  has  learned  to  read  and  has  acquired  a 
discriminating  taste  in  reading,  he  is  in  possession  of 
the  most  important  feature  in  education  that  the  school 
can  possibly  give.  Wanting  this  power  to  read,  he  is 
in  no  sense  educated,  though  he  be  a  post-graduate 
student  at  one  of  the  first  universities.  Neither  Mary 
nor  John  know  how  to  read,  and  saddest  of  all  they  are 
neither  of  them  likely  to  learn.  The  school  has  induced 
a  totally  wrong  attitude  toward  books  on  the  part  of 
one,  and  a  strong  disinclination  for  books  on  the  part 
of  the  other.  "  But,"  it  may  be  urged  by  some  one, 
"  there  are  few  teachers  indeed,  who  regard  reading  as 
mere  word  pronunciation,  who  are  themselves  content 
with  the  glib  pronunciation  ;  most  reading  teachers  try 
to  interest  the  children  in  the  thought."  This  could 
hardly  be  granted,  if  all  the  schools  supported  by  public 
moneys  are  included.     The  fact  is,  that  on  the  part  of 


70  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

many  teachers,  almost  the  sole  means  of  thought  get- 
ting is  made  through  oral  reading,  and  the  lesson 
counts  for  little  more  than  an  exercise  for  the  class  in 
pronunciation. 

The  writer  once  visited  a  more  than  usually  attrac- 
tive primary  class  in  the  city  of  I .     A  group  of 

children  were  asked  to  take  their  places  for  a  reading 
exercise.  A  printed  slip,  growing  out  of  previous  sci- 
ence work,  was  passed  to  each  child.  The  children 
were  given  a  few  minutes  to  read  the  slips  silently 
before  the  work  of  oral  reading  began.  One  child  in 
the  group  almost  immediately  forgot  everything  but 
the  bit  of  literature  before  him  ;  his  concentration  was 
complete.  Every  other  child  read  "with  half  an  eye." 
It  was  inferred  that  this  divided  attention  grew  out  of 
the  consciousness  of  the  class  being  centred  on  the 
oral  reading  for  which  this  was  but  a  preparation. 
The  class  were  interested  in  reading  as  an  oral  exer- 
cise which  had  for  them  something  of  the  character  of 
an  exhibition.  The  true  meaning  of  oral  reading  they 
were  not  getting,  while  thought  grasp  was  enfeebled  by 
the  weakened  concentration.  Does  not  excessive  oral 
reading  generate  a  kind  of  self-consciousness  ? 

When  we  disabuse  ourselves  of  our  prejudices  in 
favor  of  excessive  oral  reading  and  begin  to  work  sim- 
ply and  solely  to  develop  power  in  reading  and  a  right 
taste  for  books,  we  shall  be  surprised  at  the  number 
and  variety  of  devices  that  will  be  invented  for  the  pur- 
pose of  helping  both  teacher  and  child.  Reading  aloud 
will  then  become  a  delightful  pleasure. 

Oral  reading  should  by  no  means  be  left  out  of  the 
school  course.      It  may  enter  early  as  one  of  several 


PRINCIPLES  IX  APPLICATION.  71 

excellent  exercises  connected  with  the  reading  work, 
Reading  aloud  gives  expression  to  the  thought  that  has 
been  grasped.  To  the  teacher  it  may  be  made  an 
invaluable  means  of  determining  the  character  of  the 
thought  activity.  To  the  child  it  may  be  a  most 
wholesome  means  of  sharing  pleasure  and  stimulating 
intellectual  and  social  sympathy.  Always  it  should  be 
the  spontaneous  expression  of  the  thought  process  that 
is  going  on  parallel  with  the  uttered  words. 
To  recapitulate  :  — 

(1)    The  reading  process  takes  place  when  the  words 
in  order  recall  concepts  in  relation. 

It  is  greatly  modified  by  apperceiving  ideas. 

The  consciousness  of  the  reader  should  be  cen- 
tred on  the  ideas. 

The  teacher's  view  of  the  reading  process  will 
determine  his  procedure  and  its  results. 

Over  emphasis  of  oral  reading  produces  self- 
consciousness  and  weakened  concentration  on 
the  part  of  the  class. 
(6)  Oral  reading  should  be  introduced  as  a  single 
phase  of  reading  work,  z.e.,  as  a  means  of 
self-expression. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

"  READING  TOGETHER." 

The  schoolroom  is  the  centre  of  a  social  life,  and 
reading  together  should  be  one  of  the  means  of  devel- 
oping social  sympathy  and  of  stimulating  intellectual 
growth.  There  are  doubtless  many  ways  for  teacher 
and  class  to  read  together.  The  book  or  the  leaflet  in 
the  schoolroom  library  that  has  been  read  by  each,  and 
that  has  afterward  been  made  the  subject  of  a  free 
discussion  in  one  of  the  reading  hours,  where  opportu- 
nity is  given  for  citing  parts  that  have  been  specially 
enjoyed,  or  in  discussing  the  significance  of  this  or  that, 
or  why  this  or  that  happened,  or  what  in  the  hero  is 
liked  best,  etc.,  has  been  read  together.  The  selection 
that  has  been  read  orally  by  all,  where  the  succession 
of  ideas  occupy  the  consciousness  of  all,  has  been  read 
together.  The  gem  from  Longfellow  that  is  carefully 
thought  through  under  the  direction  of  the  teacher's 
questions  and  suggestions,  that  is  grasped  by  all  while 
only  one  perhaps  reads  it  aloud,  has  been  read  together. 

The  class,  with  books  open  at  the  same  page,  —  who 
are  "  taking  their  turn  "  while  their  minds  are  variously 
occupied  ;  a  few  in  watching  for  mistakes  (strange 
device  !),  other  few  with  the  content  of  the  page  before 
them  ;  this  boy  with  the  loss  of  his  marbles  and  that 
with  the  injustice  of  the  teacher,  while  still  another  is 
wondering  where  he  can  borrow  a  knife  to  fashion  a 

72 


'■'READING   TOGETHER.''  73 

well-planned  whistle,  etc.,  —  this  class  are  not  reading 
together. 

When  the  primary  teacher  comes  to  the  book  for  th 
first  time,  she  meets  her  first  great  obstacle  in  trying  t 
have  the  class  read  together.  It  is  evident  that  if  sh6 
tries  to  keep  back  the  quick  pupils  to  the  pace  which 
the  slow  ones  must  take,  she  will  induce  habits  of  mind- 
wandering  that  will  be  disastrous  to  the  reading  habit. 
Plainly,  at  this  point,  these  minds  should  not  be  har- 
nessed together  in  the  work  of  thought  getting.  What 
can  be  done  ? 

Said  an  excellent  principal  of  long  experience :  "  I 
discovered  that  a  little  beginning  class  in  reading  met 
one  of  the  most  difficult  obstacles  when  they  used  the 
book  for  the  first  time  and  were  required  to  keep 
together.  This  year  we  said,  '  We  will  let  the  chil- 
dren take  their  own  pace  in  getting  the  thought, 
unhampered  by  each  other.'  The  experiment  was  a 
success.  When  I  entered  the  room  each  child  was 
eager  to  show  me  where  he  was  reading.  All  were 
doing  genuine  work.  This  class  has  develoj)ed  a  great 
love  for  books.  One  day  when  their  teacher  was 
about  to  tell  them  a  story,  they  asked  if  she  would  not 
read  it  to  them  instead."  Oral  reading  had  become 
more  attractive  to  these  children  than  story  telling. 

Let  a  class  who  have  had  a  series  of  board  lessons 
growing  out  of  their  study  of  the  bean  take  such  a 
series  of  lessons  as  is  shown  in  Appendix  I.  and  busy 
themselv.es  in  reading,  reporting  to  the  teacher  from 
time  to  time,  so  that  she  is  assured  that  the  work  is 
being  done  accurately.  Then  let  the  children  come 
together   to  have  a  little  talk,  now  over  "The  Baby 


74  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

Bean  in  Bed,"  now  about  the  "  Awakening  of  the  Baby 
Bean,"  etc.  In  this  way  the  children  really  live  the 
book  through  together.  This  is  securing  a  common 
self -activity  which  is  beneficial  and  stimulating  to  all 
and  harmful  to  none. 

There  is  a  kind  of  reading  together  that  unites  the 
whole  class  mind  in  a  common  work  of  vivid  realization. 
Many  selections  that  should  enter  the  reading  hour  can 
only  be  read  in  this  way.  Let  us  examine  a  little  poem 
from  Tennyson  as  an  illustration  of  this. 

TJie  Eagle. 

He  clasps  the  crag  with  hooked  hands  ; 
Close  to  the  sun  in  lonely  lands 
Ring'd  with  the  azure  world  he  stands. 

The  wrinkled  sea  beneath  him  crawls, 
He  watches  from  his  mountain  walls, 
And  like  a  thunderbolt  he  falls. 

Let  a  fourth  or  fifth  grade  class,  after  a  study  of  the 
eagle  in  their  science  work  on  birds,  be  given  this  won- 
derful little  poem.  The  six  lines  give  a  complete  pic- 
ture. How  can  we  treat  the  poem  so  that  the  class  will 
actually  visualize  the  whole  ? 

One  plan  might  be  to  recall  the  important  character- 
istics of  the  eagle  suggested  by  the  poem  before  open- 
ing the  books  at  all,  —  the  great  strength  and  swiftness 
of  the  creature,  his  life  in  upper  air,  his  love  for  lonely 
haunts,  his  habits  with  his  prey.  With  these  apperceiv- 
ing  ideas  close  to  consciousness  turn  to  the  poem  and 
live  it  through  slowly,  line  by  line.     Note  the  force  of 


''READING   TOGETHER.''  75 

such  expressions  as  "  clasps,"  "hooked  hands,"  "ring'd," 
"  azure  world,"  "  wrinkled  sea,"  "  crawls,"  "  thunder- 
,  bolt,"  etc.  By  no  means  let  this  work  drop  into  defini- 
tion, but  let  it  rather  be  a  vivid  realizing  of  what  the 
expression  suggests.  Now  let  some  one  read  it  aloud. 
Last  of  all,  let  one  repeat  from  memory. ^ 

A  charming  and  profitable  phase  of  reading  together 
may  be  secured  when  the  teacher  reads  to  his  class.  For 
a  teacher  to  love  the  expressive  side  of  reading,  and  to 
love  to  share  with  his  children  the  rarest  book  treats, 
m^ans  the  securing  of  much  common  pleasure  and  the 
stimulation  of  the  reading  habit. 

r  fancy  that  many  a  child  and  youth  feels  over  his 
teacher's  reading  as  the  pupil  in  the  drawing-room  feels 
over  the  strokes  of  his  master's  pencil.  He  were  a 
foolish  n^aster  who  never  took  the  brush  in  his  own 

1  Reading,  more  than  any  other  study  perhaps,  depends  for  interest 
and  e^ectiveness,  on  the  imaging  power  of  the  child.  In  the  High 
School  we  appreciate  the  splendid  power  of  a  student  who  can  read 
Shakespeare's  "Merchant  of  Venice"  or  Longfellow's  "Golden  Le- 
gend," with  a  vivid  reproduction  of  their  imagery.  His  pleasure  and 
power  id  the  work  is  immeasurably  greater  than  that  of  the  average 
student  who  probably  reconstructs  this  imagery  in  the  most  faulty  and 
fragmentary  way. 

The  average  child  in  the  beginning  class  undoubtedly  images  quite 
spontaneously  in  reading.  If  the  power  were  properly  trained,  it  would 
give  the  pupil  a  stock  of  sense  images  which  would  be  invaluable  in 
future  reading  work.  From  the  earliest  primary  class  teachers  should 
allow  the  child  to  read  nothing  involving  sense  imagery  unless  he  has 
a  stock  of  concepts  that  will  make  vivid  realization  of  the  content  pos- 
sible. Preparatory  work  in  reading  should  include  work  in  providing 
adequate  sense  images.  To  this  end  the  school  should  spare  no  pains 
in  providing  for  sense  experience.  ' '  The  book, ' '  says  Professor  Dewey, 
"  is  harmful  as  a  substitute  for  experience,  it  is  all-important  in  inter- 
preting and  expanding  experience. ' ' 


76  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

hand,  to  stimulate  the  onotor  activity/  of  his  pupils  through 
their  eyes.  Such  object  lessons  are  not  lost.  They  are 
model  lessons,  in  fact.  To  know  how  to  read  to  a  class, 
and  to  know  when  and  what  to  read  to  them,  is  to 
greatly  increase  the  social  spirit  of  the  scliool,  stimulate 
interest  in  reading,  and  make  the  children  love  the  hour 
of  reading  together. 

There  are  teachers  who  read  a  book  like  "  Little  Lord 
Fauntleroy "  with  their  class  during  the  last  hour  of 
the  Friday  session.  Some  who  read  the  passage  from 
Homer  that  has  been  the  subject  of  study  in  the  litera- 
ture or  story  work :  others  who  read  the  history  of 
Joseph  or  Moses  right  from  the  Bible,  and  do  this  in  a 
way  to  give  their  classes  rare,  unforgettable  moments. 
Who  shall  say  that  they  are  not  teaching  reading  ? 

We  crave  sympathy  in  our  pleasures.  If  children 
are  to  enjoy  books,  they  must  be  helped  to  rare  hours  of 
delightful  intercourse  with  beautiful  things,  an  inter- 
course more  precious,  more  full  of  life-giving  influences 
because  it  is  stimulated  by  a  sense  of  sympathy,  of  com- 
mon feeling,  of  common  life. 

It  is  in  reading  together  that  the  pure  literary  taste 
is  formed  and  the  love  of  books  engendered. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

GETTING  THE  CENTRAL  THOUGHT. 

The  most  advanced  students  who  have  been  well 
trained  read  for  two  main  purposes :  first  to  supple- 
ment and  fill  out  their  regular  work  in  its  various 
lines,  and  second  for  the  love  of  it,  —  to  satisfy  a 
genuine  literary  taste.  Most  of  these  students  have 
already  found  their  favorite  authors,  and  love  their 
comradeship  as  of  congenial  friends.  Such  students 
read  for  knowledge  ;  they  read  also  for  recreation,  for 
inner  refreshment. 

As  has  been  suggested,  the  child  in  the  primary 
department  should  find  these  two  sides  early  in  his 
school  experience.  The  first  he  finds  represented  by 
supplementary  reading  from  science,  and  later  from 
story  work,  geography,  and  history.  The  second  he 
finds  represented  by  well-selected  poems  and  fables 
and  whole  texts  that  are  truly  classic  and  that  intro- 
duce him  at  once  to  choice  literature.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  taste  for  good  books  will  depend  in  large 
part  on  the  character  of  the  literature  that  is  put  into 
the  child's  hands,  but  it  will  depend  also  on  the  treat- 
ment of  such  material  in  the  reading  hour.  Literary 
insight  must  be  developed,  or  the  individual  taste 
will  be  in  danger  of  becoming  whimsical,  unregulated, 
one-sided,  and  the  reading  habit  will  be  of  doubtful 
continuity. 

77 


78  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

Books,  like  pictures,  may  be  trusted  to  teach  them- 
selves to  some  extent,  but  one  has  only  to  sit  down  for 
an  hour's  careful  analysis  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  "  Last 
Supper,"  Raphael's  "  Transfiguration,"  or  Tintoretto's 
"  Crucifixion,"  to  convince  himself  that  insight  comes 
with  study.  The  amount  of  study,  and  the  character  of 
study,  depends  on  the  picture  itself.  This  is  true  of 
books.  The  teacher  who  is  reading  "  Hans  Brinker  " 
with  his  class,  contents  himself  by  introducing  a 
picture,  by  sketching  a  map,  or  by  showing  some  his- 
toric object  here  and  there  to  help  the  children  more 
vividly  appreciate  the  content.  The  discussion  at  the 
close  of  each  section  gives  sufficient  opportunity  for 
the  work  of  interpretation.  But  there  are  stories 
and  books  that  must  be  more  closely  studied,  selec- 
tions in  which  nothing  is  grasped  unless  the  kernel 
of  the  whole  is  found.  Let  us  look  at  an  illustration 
of  this  kind  :  — ■ 

The  Donkey  and  the   Girasshopper. 

Once  upon  a  time  a  donkey  heard  a  grasshopper 
chirping  in  the  grass.  He  was  very  much  pleased 
with  the  beautiful  song.  "Ah,"  said  he  to  himself, 
"if  I  could  sing  like  that  how  happy  I  would  be." 
So  he  bowed  low  to  the  grasshopper  and  said,  "  Kind 
friend,  what  food  do  you  eat  to  make  your  voice  so 
sweet  ? "  "I  drink  the  evening  dew,"  replied  the 
grasshopper.  The  foolish  donkey  tried  to  live  on  the 
same  food  and  died  of  hunger.  Foolish  fellow  !  He 
was  not  born  to  sing. 

(From  "  Stepping  Stones  to  Literature,"  Second  Reader.) 


GETTING    THE  CENTRAL    THOUGHT.  79 

This  little  fable  is  taken  from  a  reader,  one  of  the 
striking  features  of  which  is  the  great  number  of 
selections  that  are  true  wholes,  that  is,  contain  a  cen- 
tral thought  of  real  interest,  which  the  framework  and 
setting  bring  out  clearly.  Such  selections  not  only  are 
admirably  adapted  to  interest  the  child,  for  the  child  is 
always  interested  when  he  is  receiving  something  of 
real  worth  that  is  adapted  to  his  needs,  but  their  sim- 
plicity and  brevity  afford  an  admirable  opportunity  for 
developing  the  power  of  encompassing  a  whole  and 
grasping  the  central  thought. 

"Be  content  to  do  your  own  work,"  embodies  the 
central  truth  of  this  fable.  In  teaching  selections  of 
this  sort  it  is  important  for  the  teacher  himself  to  reach 
a  clear  comprehension  of  the  central  truth,  and  then  to 
decide  how  he  can  lead  his  class  to  find  it. 

Children  will  readily  enough  see  that  the  grass- 
hopper must  have  the  food  for  which  he  is  adapted, 
and  do  the  work  for  which  he  is  adapted  ;  and,  in  seeing 
this,  they  instinctively  feel  the  futility  and  absurdity 
of  the  donkey's  attempt  at  imitation.  Little  children 
enjoy  the  humor  of  such  selections  as  adults  rarely  do. 
Now  they  must  be  led  to  see  that  the  donkey  had  an 
important  work  of  his  own,  for  which  he  was  well 
fitted.  They  will  love  to  tell  of  the  work  of  other 
creatures,  the  horse,  the  dog,  the  birds.  Of  each  they 
see  that  it  takes  up  the  work  for  which  it  is  adapted. 
The  teacher's  quiet  "Yes,  every  creature  has  its  own 
place  and  should  do  its  own  work,"  is  a  sufficient  gen- 
eralization. If  she  wishes  application,  the  simple  "  I 
wonder  if  boys  and  girls  have  their  own  work  to  do  ?  " 
will  be  enough.     Little  children  should  be  taught  the 


80  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

great  truth  that  the  work  they  are  doing  each  day  is  as 
truly  work,  if  it  be  done  well,  as  that  which  father  and 
mother  are  doing.  Children  should  never  be  hurried 
on  to  such  a  central  thought,  but  should  grow  to  it 
slowly  and  grasp  it  clearly. 

The  value  of  such  work  as  this  in  developing  a  real 
literary  insight  may  be  more^  clearly  seen  in  a  more  sus- 
tained production.  Let  us  take  Browning's  "  Herve 
Riel"  as  an  illustration.  (For  the  text  of  this  poem 
see  Appendix  III.)  Here  is  an  important  truth  for 
an  American  child  :  true  patriotism  is  unselfish ;  the 
patriotic  act  is  not  performed  —  for  the  sake  of  reward. 

The  poem  presents  work  for  several  lessons.  Let 
us  try  to  find  subdivisions  that  represent  unities, 
each  of  which  may  be  taught  in  one  lesson.  The 
following  divisions  could  be  made  :  — 

(1)  The  Pursuit. 

To,  "Then  was  called  a  council." 

(2)  The  Council. 

Ending  with,  "Give  the  word." 

(3)  The  Volunteers. 

To,  "  Not  a  minute  more  to  wait." 

(4)  The  Rescue. 

Ending  with,  "  Pleasant  riding  on  the  Ranee." 

(5)  The  Reward. 

Ending  with,  "Nothing  more." 
(9)    The  Poet's  Tribute. 
To  end  of  poem. 

Careful  work  must  be  done  in  preparation  for  a 
series  of  lessons  of  this  sort.    (See  discussion  of  Apper- 


GETTING    THE  CENTRAL    THOUGHT.  81 

ception,  Chapter  VI.)  This  preparatory  work  should, 
first,  review  important  facts  in  history  bearing  on  the 
point,  e.g.  general  condition  of  France,  of  England, 
power  of  the  English  navy ;  second,  it  should  review 
geography  of  the  locality,  which  gives  the  setting  of 
the  poem,  locating  places  named  in  the  poem ;  third, 
it  should  review  the  events  immediately  preceding  that 
narrated  in  the  poem,  that  is,  the  defeat  at  the  Hogue, 
position  of  fleets.  Such  preliminary  work  of  prepara- 
tion should  be  done  with  each  unity,  as  showing  the 
value  of  her  navy  to  the  French  nation,  the  work  of 
pilots,  their  knowledge  of  the  coast,  and  before  the 
sixth  division  the  pupils  should  be  told  something  of  the 
way  in  which  France  has  honored  Napoleon,  and  should 
be  given  some  idea  of  the  great  gallery  of  the  Louvre, 
and  the  feeling  of  Frenchmen  for  it.  Compare  the 
fame  of  Herve  Kiel's  act  as  depicted  in  a  picture  hung 
in  the  Louvre  and  as  sung  by  Browning.  Help  them 
to  see  how  a  great  poet  immortalizes  the  deed  that  he 
sings. 

A  good  plan  to  follow  in  the  study  of  such  a  poem 
is  for  the  teacher  to  read  the  selection  through  to  the 
class  after  the  preparatory  work  is  finished,  so  as  to 
put  the  whole  before  them.  Now  begin  the  special 
study  of  the  various  divisions.  Let  the  class  live  fully 
into  each  division ;  ask  for  no  oral  reading  of  this  divi- 
sion until  it  has  impressed  itself  on  the  class  thought. 
After  the  last  division  has  been  read,  give  a  final  lesson, 
in  which  you  lead  the  class  to  a  clear  grasp  of  the  cen- 
tral thought.  What  is  Herve  Kiel  offered?  Why  did 
he  desire  to  serve  ?  ("  Burn  the  fleet,  and  ruin  France  ? 
That  were  worse  than  fifty  Hogues  !  ")     His  reception 


82  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

of  honor  and  reward.  ("  Just  the  same  man  as  before. ") 
His  motive. 

Now  let  the  pupils  name  others  who  have  acted  in 
this  way — Leonidas,  Alfred  the  Great,  Washington. 
Bring  out  the  motive  of  action  in  each  case.  Com- 
pare these  heroes,  and  decide  why  they  served.  The 
teacher  should  confirm  the  class  judgment  with  a 
definite  though  quiet  assent,  "Yes,  the  true  patriot 
never  serves  for  the  sake  of  reward."  In  application 
the  teacher  may  allow  the  class  to  decide  if  our  own 
nation  has  need  of  patriots  (our  late  war  with  Spain 
developed  some  admirable  examples  of  quiet  acts  of 
heroism). 

Not  all  selections  can  be  treated  in  this  way,  but 
when  the  whole  import  of  a  text  is  to  teach  some  one 
important  truth,  the  pupils  should  be  helped  to  see 
that  truth  clearly  and  strongly.  Power  in  literary 
insight  grows  with  such  work.  One  feels  this  in 
more  sustained  productions  (see  Appendix  IV.),  but 
too  often  overlooks  the  fact  that  the  child's  earliest 
reading  should  give  the  beginning  of  such  power. 
The  child  who  clearly  grasps  the  thought  of  the  sen- 
tence may  be  helped  to  grasp  the  import  of  the  whole 
story,  and  later  he  may  be  trained  to  distinguish  the 
leading  thought,  paragraph  by  paragraph,  chapter  by 
chapter,  and  then  to  seize  on  the  great  central  trutli 
of  tho'  whole.     This  is  power. 

All  great  literature  is  ethical.  The  central  thought, 
the  essential  heart  of  the  classic,  be  it  short  or  long, 
that  you  help  your  class  to  find,  is  ethical.  It  should, 
if  possible,  represent  something  that  they  are  ready  to 
receive.  It  should  fit  into  their  lives  in  a  close,  inti- 
mate, organic  way. 


GETTING   THE  CENTRAL   THOUGHT.  83 

Do  not  try  to  teach  many  selections  of  tliis  sort  in 
one  term,  lest  their  essential  work  of  growing  into 
the  class  thought  —  into  their  lives  —  be  interrupted. 

Many  productions  have  a  most  valuable  central 
truth  that  can  better  be  implied,  than  directly  stated. 
To  illustrate  :  — 

Bird  Thoughts. 

I  lived  first  in  a  little  house, 

And  lived  there  very  well ; 
I  thought  the  world  was  small  and  round, 

And  made  of  pale  blue  shell. 

I  lived  next  in  a  little  nest. 

Nor  needed  any  other ; 
I  thought  the  world  was  made  of  straw, 

And  brooded  by  my  mother. 

One  day  I  fluttered  from  the  nest. 

To  see  what  I  could  find, 
I  said,  "  The  world  is  made  of  leaves,  — 

I  have  been  very  blind." 

At  length  I  flew  beyond  the  tree. 

Quite  fit  for  grown-up  labors, 
I  don't  know  how  the  world  is  made. 

And  neither  do  my  neighbors. 
{From  "  Steppuig  Stones  to  Literature,"  Second  Reader.) 

A  teacher  who  understands  the  significance  of  such 
child  questions  as,  "  If  you  go  on  and  on  as  far  as  you 
can  on  the  land,  what  do  you  come  to  then  ?  "     "  If  you 


84  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

go  down  and  down,  what  do  you  find  at  last  ?"  —  the 
teacher  who  remembers  his  own  childish  efforts  to  con- 
struct an  orderly  framework  for  the  world  in  which  he 
lived,  will  make  this  lesson  a  means  of  helping  the 
child  understand  these  questions  and  difficulties.  The 
child  but  follows  here  the  history  of  the  race.  He  con- 
structs his  world  in  thought  and  modifies  it  by  subse- 
quent experiences. 

The  settings  of  the  poem  must  themselves  be  fully 
prepared  for  in  a  previous  lesson  or  they  will  not  carry 
thought  safely  in  its  movement  beyond.  Help  the 
children  in  this  preparatory  lesson  to  think  of  the  bird 
life  within  the  shell.  (Be  sure  they  think  of  it  as  life.) 
When  the  birdling  begins  to  stir,  he  finds  the  enclosing 
shell  on  all  sides.  He  pecks  his  way  through,  .to  find 
himself  in  the  nest.  There  he  becomes  conscious  of  his 
mother,  of  the  nest,  of  the  little  brood  that  fill  it,  etc. 
Let  the  class  follow  the  growing  circles  of  the  birdling's 
life  until  it  reaches  into  the  world. 

Now  they  are  ready  for  the  poem.  When  this  has 
been  well  read  let  the  child  find  the  parallel  between 
his  own  life  and  that  of  the  bird.  At  first  he  knew  his 
own  home  and  its  inmates  only.  Then  he  reached  the 
neighborhood  and  then  the  school.  Now  he  knows  that 
the  great  round  world  contains  many  lands,  many  cities, 
many  peoples,  etc.,  and  the  stars  are  worlds  be3'"ond. 

We  must  remember  that  scientific  facts  do  not  neces- 
sarily induce  vivid  thinking  of  reality.  The  child's 
active  imagination,  regulated  by  perceptive  work  over 
concrete  material,  restrained  by  apperceptive  activity, 
must  animate  these  facts,  —  unify  them,  create  them 
anew.     Suggestions  of  the  way  this  may  be  done  are 


GETTING    THE  CENTRAL    THOUGHT.  85 

found  in  Kipling,  Ernest  Seton  Thompson,  Miss  An- 
drews, and  in  much  simple  science  work  done  by  teach- 
ers themselves.  The  reading  lesson  of  this  character 
affords  opportunit}^  for  such  work.  Out  of  it  the  child 
is  indeed  constructing  his  world. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

INTENSIVE   AND   EXTENSIVE  READING. 

Literature  affords  two  distinct  classes  of  produc- 
tions :  the  one  condensed,  where  thought  is  large  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  words  ;  the  other  diffuse, 
where  content  is  distributed  over  wide  spaces.  The 
first  must  be  read  through  a  process  of  close  thinking, 
the  second  by  a  rapid  grasp  of  points  successively.  In 
the  first  the  work  is  close,  analytical,  and  exhaustive, 
in  the  second  rapid,  clear,  and  comprehensive.  We 
hkve  already  seen  illustrations  of  the  first  in  "  Bird 
Thoughts,"  Tennyson's  "Eagle,"  and"Herv^  Kiel." 
Such  texts  often  express  a  single  central  truth,  and 
should  as  a  rule  lead  the  reader  to  a  clear  general  notion, 
as  illustrated  in  "  Herve  Riel."  Tennyson's  "Eagle," 
however,  contains  no  such  central  truth,  yet  it  is  an  ex- 
cellent illustration  of  intensive  reading. 

Intensive  reading  asks  that  there  shall  be  a  strong 
gras^D  of  minor  thoughts  or  details,  and  exercise  of 
judgment  in  getting  the  full  significance  of  individual 
passages  and  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  central  ideas 
in  relation  to  these  details.  Let  us  look  at  such  a  poem 
as  Longfellow's  "  Building  of  the  Ship  "  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  intensive  reading. 

Build  me  straight,  O  worthy  Master, 
Stanch  and  strong,  a  goodly  vessel, 

86 


INTENSIVE  AND  EXTENSIVE  READING.  87 

That  shall  laugh  at  all  disaster, 

And  with  wave  and  whirlwind  wrestle  ! 

The  teacher  desires  to  make  this  poem  a  means  of 
giving  the  class  a  conception  of  our  country  as  a  civil 
and  social  framework  which  has  been  in  making  during 
the  course  of  our  national  history  ;  at  the  same  time  he 
desires  the  class  to  feel  the  need  of  endurance  and 
strength  in  that  framework  and  the  importance  of  wise 
guidance  for  the  ship. 

In  preparation,  the  teacher  is  careful  to  see  that  the 
class  have  the  necessary  apperceiving  ideas  for  the 
understanding  of  the  work  of  ship-building.  A  few 
facts  should  be  given  describing  work  done  at  Cramps 
in  Philadelphia,  in  the  Fairfax  Yards  in  Glasgow,  or  in 
some  other  noted  ship-building  centre.  Have  the 
pupils  understand  something  as  to  the  time  required  to 
build  a  great  warship  like  the  Oregon,  the  cost,  the 
number  of  men  employed,  the  significance  of  the  archi- 
tect's work,  the  care  with  which  the  "  ribs  of  steel " 
must  be  wrought,  etc. 

In  the  reading  of  this  poem  not  so  much  can  be 
gained  by  a  careful  study  of  single  expressions  as  by 
)  bringing  related  thoughts  to  bear  so  that  an  intelligent 
(  interpretation  may  result,  e.g.  let  the  children  them- 
selves  give  a  few  facts  respecting  the  force  of  "  wave  " 
and  "whirlwind";  let  them  decide  why  the  launching  is 
so  significant.  When  does  a  ship  really  begin  to  live  ? 
What  is  the  test  of  her  worth  ?  Let  the  children  com- 
pare the  launching  with  some  other  ceremony  having  a 
similar  significance.  What  must  be  the  feeling  of  the 
builder  who  has  wrought  well  ?     Why  ?     What    will 


88  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

determine  the  subsequent  history  of  the  ship  ?  This 
history  will  be  seen  as  influenced  by  the  character  of 
building,  by  the  crew  and  officers  of  the  ship,  quite  as 
much  as  by  the  storms  and  dangerous  rocks  she  may 
meet. 

Humanity  with  all  its  fears, 
With  all  the  hopes  of  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate  ! 

What  is  the  significance  to  the  people  when  the  ship 
of  state  goes  wrong?  when  it  is  wrecked?  This  the 
children  can  illustrate  from  their  knowledge  of  general 
history,  where  they  have  learned  something  of  the  expe- 
rience of  subject  nations.  Be  sure  that  they  understand 
from  facts  drawn  from  the  history  of  famous  ships  that 
their  greatest  dangers  come  from  within.  Give  them 
Nelson's  great  motto  :  — 

We  know  what  Master  laid  thy  keel, 
What  Workmen  wrought  thy  ribs  of  steel, 

Let  the  children  mention  some  of  our  national  work- 
men and  tell  the  time  when  some  of  these  "ribs  of 
steel "  were  shaped. 

In  the  work  of  intensive  reading  much  depends  on 
) selecting  texts  adapted  to  the  children's  stage  of  devel- 
S  opment.  The  treatment  too  should  be  adjusted  to  the 
children  ;  for  instance,  the  above  selection  would  have 
a  significance  in  eighth  grade  work  at  the  time  when 
the  children  are  studying  the  civil  history  of  their  own 
country  (See  "Course  of  Study  in  History"  by  Emily  J. 
Rice,  published  by  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.)  and  just  at  the 


INTENSIVE  AND  EXTENSIVE  READING.  89 

point  in  the  study  when  they  are  ready  to  form  a  unified 
conception  of  our  national  life.  In  this  stage  of  the 
study  patriotic  ideals  and  motives  should  be  strong  and 
clear  in  the  children's  thought ;  this  must  be  so  if  the 
study  of  their  country's  history  is  to  exercise  a  truly 
educative  influence. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  much  of  the 
interest  and  consequent  power  developed  in  intensive 
peading  depends  on  the  wealth  of  related  ideas  brought 
(fo  the  subject. 

"  He  who  has  at  any  time  given  himself  up  con  amove 
to  any  object  of  human  activity  understands  what  con- 
centration means,"  says  Herbart.  Intensive  reading  is 
most  effective  when  teacher  and  pupils  alike  can  for  the 
time  lose  themselves  in  the  work.  At  such  moments 
the  class  themselves  may  be  trusted  to  bring  the  full 
wealth  of  their  experience  to  the  subject  and  to  exercise 
to  the  fullest  extent  judgment  and  imagination.  In 
this  way  the  reading  hour  carries  all  into  the  world 
created  by  the  text  itself.  The  most  artistic  w^ork  is 
always  done  in  such  hours  of  self-forgetful  interest. 
The  very  inflection  and  tones  of  the  voice  become 
adjusted  instinctively  to  the  thought.  Expression  be- 
comes the  natural  correlate  of  impression,  and  all  moves 
rhythmically. 

In  thoroughly  logical  selections  it  is  an  admirable  plan 
for  the  class  to  find  sometimes  the  subject  or  central 
idea  of  each  successive  paragraph,  thus  determining  the 
logical  series  of  minor  points  that  lead  up  to  the  major. 
To  illustrate  :  in  the  supposed  speech  of  John  Adams 
(see  Appendix  II.)  the  paragraphs  show  the  following 
topics  :  — 


90  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

An  unconditional  personal  approval  of  the  Declara- 
tion. 

Importance  of  continuing  the  war. 

Advantages  of  such  a  Declaration  to  the  American 
cause. 

Loyalty  of  the  people. 

Effect  of  the  Declaration  on  the  people. 

The  personal  peril  of  the  signers. 

The  endurance  of  such  a  Declaration. 

Unconditional  personal  approval  of  the  Declaration. 

(Pupils  should  account  for  the  similarity  of  content 
in  the  first  and  last  paragraph.) 

A  little  work  done  in  helping  the  class  to  this  sort 
of  paragraph  grasp  will  greatly  increase  their  power  of 
logical  thinking  in  reading,  and  will  lead  directly  to 
the  power  of  grasping  sustained  wholes. 

We  must  remember  that  we  are  teaching  literature 
in  such  work,  i.e.  we  are  forming  habits  in  reading, 
developing  literary  taste  and  insight,  and  disciplining 
pupils  for  the  great  literary  masterpieces. 

As  we  have  already  observed,  intensive  and  extensive 
reading  have  grown  up  from  the  character  of  literature 
itself,  as  well  as  from  the  demands  for  a  proper  literary 
training.  While  it  is  true  that  power  to  grasp  thought 
intensively  is  perhaps  the  rarest  reading  power,  yet  it 
should  be  matched  by  the  power  to  grasp  thought 
rapidly  and  comprehensively.  No  one  is  educated  until 
he  is  able  to  think  well  into  highly  condensed  passages, 
nor  is  he  educated  until  he  can  read  a  book,  chapter  by 
chaptej,  and  grasp  the  central  idea. 

Extensive  reading  aims  to  develop  t^e  latter  power. 
Very  much  is  involved  in  such  extensive  reading.     Just 


INTENSIVE  AND   EXTENSIVE  READING.  91 

as  intensive  reading  must  guard  against  dropping  into 
the  tiresome,  so  must  extensive  reading  guard  against 
the  danger  of  discursiveness. 

Power  in  extensive  reading  can  only  develop  as  the 
pupil  gains  in  power  to  grasp  details  rapidly,  put  them 
into  right  relation,  and  deduce  from  them  the  important 
points  contained  in  the  whole.  To  hold  paragraph 
after  paragraph,  chapter  after  chapter  in  consciousness, 
in  such  wise  that  the  main  thought  grows  constantly  to 
the  end,  to  establish  the  proper  thought  sequences  so 
that  at  the  end  the  whole  of  a  sustained  selection  or 
book  is  before  the  mind  in  its  entirety  —  this  is  what 
extensive  reading  should  accomplish.  This  can  only 
be  done  by  gaining  the  central  point  of  each  section  as  ^ 
the  reading  proceeds.  Many  minor  details  drop  from 
consciousness  while  these  important  subordinates  are 
held  steadily  in  mind.  Only  so  can  the  proper  sequence 
of  important  points  be  established.     To  illustrate  :  — 

In  reading  the  "  Snow  Queen,"  by  Hans  Andersen, 
with  a  third-year  class  (see  Riverside  Literature  Series, 
No.  50,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.),  the  teacher  would 
desire  the  children  to  grasp  clearly  the  following 
points  :  — 

The  character  of  the  mirror. 

The  effect  on  Kay  when  one  of  its  splinters  enters 
his  heart. 

Gerda's  faith. 

Gerda's  helpers. 

How  Kay  is  rescued. 

A  class  will  readily  grasp  the  kernel  of  the  story 
when  this  point  is  reached,  viz.:  the  redeeming  power 
of  Gerda's  faith  and  love. 


92  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

A  few  sustained  texts  of  this  character  should  be 
read  each  year.  The  outcome  of  the  work  gives  the 
class  power  in  approaching  that  large  class  of  books  of 
fiction  and  travel  that  children  so  much  enjoy,  and  that 
make  up  so  considerable  a  portion  of  adult  reading. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE   PICTURE   AND   ITS   USE. 

If  all  sharp,  clear  concepts  of  sensible  objects  were 
confined  to  those  with  which  we  have  direct  sense 
experience,  we  should  be  poor  indeed.  Very  much  of 
our  teaching  work  is  expended  in  helping  children  in 
forming  ideas  of  things  distant  from  them  in  time  and 
space.  Geography  is  pushed  outward,  from  the  child's 
environment  where  sense  experience  has  given  him  his 
stock  of  apperceiving  ideas,  to  the  entire  earth,  and  if 
astronomy  aid,  bej'ond  this  to  the  universe.  In  history 
he  transcends  the  time  and  space  limits,  and  the  con- 
cept, at  first  limited  to  the  society  in  which  he  lives,  is 
made  to  include  other  ages  and  countries.  In  the  study 
of  the  life  history  of  any  animal  or  plant  he  realizes  the 
existence  of  conditions  that  he  cannot  directly  observe. 

How  does  the  mind  secure  accurate  imag-es  of  things 
it  has  never  seen  ?  You  answer,  By  the  exercise  of  the 
imaging  power,  which  uses  the  concrete  material  formed 
by  sense  perception  and  builds  it  into  various  forms,  as 
reason  and  judgment  direct.  Clear  concej)ts  of  hill, 
and  stream,  and  miniature  plain,  of  bird  and  flower,  of 
house  and  village,  of  human  industries,  of  types  of  men 
and  women,  of  definite  acts  and  their  results,  etc., — 
these  afford  most  valuable  concrete  material.  But  such 
material  should  be  helpfully  supplemented  by  pictures. 

A  psychology  class  numbering  seventy  pupils  was 

93 


94  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

once  asked  to  form  a  clear  visual  image  of  a  desert 
with  pyramids  in  the  foreground.  Most  of  the  students 
formed  with  great  readiness  accurate  images,  so  that 
questions  with  respect  to  color,  size,  proportion,  etc., 
were  readily  and  accurately  answered.  In  determin- 
ing the  particular  character  which  the  image  took  the 
majority  of  the  class  decided  that  it  had  been  influenced 
by  pictures.  The  writer  is  conscious  that  the  pictures 
of  Gerome  have  done  very  much  in  modifying  and  giv- 
ing character  to  her  own  images  of  the  desert  and  of 
desert  life. 

Pictures,  then,  as  affording  important  material  in 
teaching,  deserve  most  careful  study.  And  since  they 
very  properly  hold  a  conspicuous  place  in  our  reading 
books,  their  part  in  reading  work  should  be  carefully 
considered. 

There  are  two  valuable  classes  of  pictures  in  use 
to-day.  ( The  one  class  aims  directly  at  instruction,  the 
other  aipis  to  please  as  well.  Both  classes  are  educa- 
tive, but  the  first  educates  by  imparting  facts  directly, 
the  second  by  awakening  the  aesthetic  and  moral  feel- 
ings. Both  appeal  to  judgment,  but  the  first  makes 
its  strongest  appeal  to  the  analytic  judgment,  the  sec- 
ond to  the  aesthetic  and  moral  judgment.  If  we  look 
at  the  illustrations  accompanying  the  little  primer,  the 
text  of  which  is  given  in  the  Appendix,  we  find  that 
most  of  the  pictures  are  drawings  of  the  bean  plant 
made  from  life.  These  drawings  emphasize  now  one 
feature  of  the  bean  plant,  now  another.  They  have  a 
single  advantage  over  the  object  itself  ;  the  class  have 
analyzed  this  object,  and  since  the  drawings  bring  into 
strong  prominence  noAV  one  feature,  now  another,  they 


THE  PICTURE  AND  ITS    USE.  95 

help  the  analytical  activity  of  the  observer.  Such 
pictures  are  placed  in  the  book  for  the  direct  purpose 
of  instructing. 

Suppose,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  such  a  picture  as 
Millet's  "  Angelus  "  before  us.  Here  is  a  picture  that 
is  much  more  than  a  drawing.  The  artist  has  done 
more  than  analyze  his  subject ;  he  has  a  lively  feeling 
for  it,  and  to  the  mind  of  the  sj^mpathetic  observer  he 
succeeds  in  imparting  something  of  this  feeling.  The 
truth  which  the  picture  carries  is  not  so  easily  put  into 
words  as  the  first ;  it  is  a  vastly  more  complex  thing. 
One  turns  from  it  with  the  same  feeling  that  he 
experiences  in  closing  a  book  containing  one  of  the 
world's  great  dramas  or  epics  —  the  reading  is  not 
finished,  and  it  cannot  soon  be  finished. 

We  have  already  observed  that  perceptive  activity 
must  be  active  over  the  first  class  of  pictures  in  much 
the  same  way  as  over  the  object  itself  —  the  perceptive 
activity  must  be  directed  to  the  important  features  of 
the  picture.  To  illustrate :  the  teacher  who  looks 
with  her  class  at  a  picture  of  Esquimaux  showing  their 
huts,  their  sledges,  snowshoes,  manner  of  dress,  weap- 
ons, etc.,  can  greatly  aid  the  class  in  forming  more 
exact  visual  images  of  these  things  by  seeing  that  the 
children  make  accurate  observations  and  comparisons, 
e.^.  "  try  to  discover  the  material  from  which  the  hut 
is  made."  "The  average  Esquimau  is  five  and  one- 
half  feet ;  one  man  is  standing  close  by  the  hut ;  try  to 
determine  its  height."  "Judging  from  its  external 
appearance,  what  Avould  you  expect  to  be  the  appear- 
ance of  the  room  or  rooms  within,  as  to  shape  ?  Height  ? 
Lighting  ?  "  etc.  "  Determine  tlie  height  of  the  entrance." 


96  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

"  Why  do  you  think  it  is  so  small  ?  "  "  Why  placed  in 
this  position  ?  "  etc.  The  settings  of  such  pictures, 
too,  have  many  facts  of  value  for  the  child,  who  must 
depend  on  them  largely  for  the  accuracy  of  his  con- 
cepts. "  When  the  Esquimau  emerges  from  his  hut 
what  meets  his  eye?  "  "  I  wonder  what  changes  would 
take  place  in  this  view  from  day  to  day?  from  season 
to  season  ? "  The  children  will  love  to  think  of  the 
beautiful  flashes  of  color  that  sometimes  meet  the  eye 
of  the  Esquimau  child,  of  the  signs  of  spring  that  he 
would  see  and  feel,  of  the  way  the  driving  snowstorm 
shuts  him  in,  of  his  pleasure  in  welcoming  home  the 
father  returning  from  the  seal  hunt,  etc. 
'It  is  needless  to  say  that  where  descriptions  accom- 
pany the  picture,  the  picture  should  be  carefully  ob- 
served first,  since  the  clear  visual  images  formed  from 
these  will  help  the  child  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
description,  and  give  zest  and  life  to  its  reading.  The 
child's  own  mind  should  be  observed,  and  his  natural 
return  to  the  picture  for  "  another  look  "  seconded  by 
the  teacher. 

The  picture  of  cathedral,  of  town,  of  landscape,  or  of 
mountain,  that  is  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
the  child  necessary  concrete  material  for  forming  accu- 
rate concepts,  should  be  treated  in  much  the  same  way. 
In  showing  a  picture  of  Mont  Blanc,  for  example,  the 
children  should  be  asked  not  only  to  note  the  character 
of  the  slopes,  to  select  the  accessible  parts,  to  estimate 
the  climb  that  these  suggest — but  he  should  accurately 
note  every  change  of  vegetation  and  life  that  a  good 
photograph  presents,  and  account  for  these.  A  little 
work  of  this  kind  greatly  enhances  the  interest  of  the 


THE  PICTUBE  AND  ITS    USE.  97 

reading  lesson,  and  is  invaluable  in  giving  life  and 
reality  to  the  text  so  illumined. 

Many  of  the  art  pictures  finding  their  way  into  our 
reading  books  belong  to  the  second  class  referred  to 
above.  Although  they  often  carry  many  facts  with 
them  that  are  of  great  value  in  the  direct  work  of  help- 
ing the  child  to  accurate  concepts,  yet  their  real  aim  is 
never  the  mere  imparting  of  facts.  Breton's  "  Song  of 
the  Lark "  is  a  picture  of  this  kind,  as  are  many  of 
LeroUe's  and  nearly  all  of  Millet's.  The  peasant  girl 
in  the  "  Song  of  the  Lark "  in  dress,  movement,  and 
expression  is  a  picture  from  life. 

The  presentation  of  such  pictures  must  be  largely 
modified  by  the  character  of  the  picture  itself,  and  by 
its  immediate  relation  to  the  lesson  which  it  is  meant 
to  illumine.  There  are  times  when  a  simple  question 
that  carries  the  children  to  the  central  thought  of  the 
whole  and  leaves  long  pauses  in  which  the  picture  itself 
can  speak,  is  best  of  all.  To  illustrate  in  the  above,  the 
simple  question,  "  Where  is  the  song  ?  "  will  carry  the 
children  far  toward  a  true  appreciation  of  the  whole. 
For  the  artist  tells  them  that  the  song  is  not  merely  in 
the  air  but  in  the  heart  of  the  girl.  A  common  sym- 
pathy that  unites  all  with  each  other  and  with  the 
picture  itself  is  the  best  means  of  approaching  such 
a  work  of  art.  In  such  moments  the  most  truly 
educative  work  is  done.  A  scrap  of  poetry  may  be 
suggested,  like  Longfellow's  "  Arrow  and  Song,"  or 
there  may  be  a  projection  of  the  thought  of  all  into 
the  peasant  life  represented,  so  that  its  wholesome 
sweetness  penetrates  the  thought.  In  such  moments 
aesthetic  and  moral  aspects  of  the  picture  assert  them- 


98  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

selves,  and  it  is  fortunate  indeed  when  they  follow  the 
merely  perceptive  activity  which  they  should  complete. 

Pictures  of  this  sort  should  if  possible  be  placed  in 
the  room  for  a  few  days,  where  they  do  their  own  silent 
teaching,  and  do  it  most  effectively.  Children  should 
be  helped  to  an  understanding  of  how  such  pictures 
are  made.  Stories  and  incidents  from  the  lives  of  the 
artists  themselves  will  often  add  very  much  to  the  edu- 
cative value  of  the  picture.  That  most  difficult  and 
important  side  of  education  which  develops  right  feel- 
ing, awakens  and  conserves  the  better  desires,  stimu- 
lates the  imagination  which  it  controls  and  purifies, 
is  most  effectively  furthered  by  such  pictures.  The 
teacher  who  is  carefully  making  her  collection  of  pho- 
tographs and  prints  to  enrich  the  reading  hour  is 
employing  one  of  the  most  efficient  means  of  making 
the  children  true  readers. 

We  have  said  that  the  value  of  pictures  to  children 
may  be  greatly  enhanced  by  simple  stories  from  the 
lives  of  the  artists.  The  children  who  are  enjoying 
Giotto's  tower  should  be  helped  not  merely  to  an  appre- 
ciation of  its  architectural  beauty  and  a  conception  of 
the  lovely  pictures  of  Florence  framed  in  by  its  exqui- 
site windows,  but  they  will  love  to  connect  with  this 
noble  tower  the  simple  story  of  the  shepherd  boy. 
Michael  Angelo's  David,  always  loved  by  the  children, 
should  be  related  not  merely  to  the  beautiful  Bible 
narrative  from  whence  it  was  drawn,  but  the  children 
should  associate  with  it  the  story  of  its  making  out 
of  the  great  block  of  dust-covered  marble,  which  was 
so  illy  shaped  that  no  artist  until  Angelo  was  found  to 
form  it  into  a  great  statue.     This  is  a  picture  for  the 


THE  PICTURE  AND  ITS   USE.  90 

adolescent,  and  the  whole  history  of  its  making  is  in 
striking  harmony  with  its  subject,  in  its  power  to  inspire 
adolescent  ideals. 

There  are  many  great  pictures  with  which  there  is 
associated  some  story  that  affords  a  key  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  work  itself.  This  is  illustrated  in 
Raphael's  "  St.  Margaret,"  Guido  Reni's  "  Aurora," 
Botticelli's  "  Tobias  and  the  Angel,"  and  many  others. 
The  telling  of  these  stories,  clearl}^,  simply,  and  at  the 
moment  when  the  child  is  ready  to  make  a  real  approach 
to  the  picture,  is  an  important  feature  in  its  proper 
presentation, 

Mrs.  Jameson's  "  Memoirs  of  Italian  Artists  " "  and 
her  "  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art "  afford  a  storehouse 
whence  teachers  may  draw  excellent  material  for  such 
work.  Most  stories  of  this  sort  need  to  be  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  the  children.  The  character  of  the  class 
itself  must  determine  the  amount  and  character  of  ma- 
terial selected.  There  are  lives  of  artists  that  have  in 
them  little  to  educate  any  class.  Fortunately,  however, 
the  lives  of  the  greatest  masters  teem  with  material 
that  affords  true  conceptions  of  the  artist's  devotion 
to  his  work,  and  beautiful,  true  glimpses  of  the  condi- 
tions under  which  that  work  was  done. 

To  summarize  :  — 

(1)  We  depend  on  the  imaging  power  of  the  child 

for  vivid  and  accurate  concrete  concepts. 

(2)  These  concepts  are  necessary  to  intelligent  read- 

ing. 

(3)  The  picture  may  be  made  a  means  of  giving  us 

such  concepts. 


100  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

(4)  The  picture  should  be  accurately  perceived  aud 

apperceived. 

(5)  The  treatment  of  the  picture  must  be  modified 

by  the  character  of  the  picture  itself,  and  by 
its  relation  to  the  work  in  hand. 

(6)  There  should  be  associated  with  pictures  care- 

fully selected  stories  from  the  lives  of  the 
artists,  or  narrations  which  serve  as  a  key  to 
the  understanding  of  the  pictures. 


XVI. 

THE  CHILD  AND  THE  BOOK. 

A  CLASS  of  young  teachers  were  recently  asked  to 
recall  their  own  experiences  in  learning  to  read.  Out 
of  the  fifty,  nineteen  had  been  taught  by  the  alphabet 
method,  although  it  had  been  abandoned  in  every  good 
school  before  many  of  them  were  born ;  eleven  had 
been  taught  by  the  word  method,  and  as  many  more 
by  the  sentence  method  ;  six  had  taught  themselves  to 
read,  and  in  some  cases  had  shown  much  ingenuity  in 
doing  so.  The  striking  feature  of  this  report  was  the 
uniform  agreement  of  all  as  to  the  feeling  toward 
books  awakened  by  this  early  work.  All  agreed  that 
they  became  indifferent  to  the  reading  books,  if  they 
did  not  positively  dislike  them,  associating  with  them 
the  idea  of  drudgery.  Most  of  them  had  learned  to 
love  other  books. 

When  does  a  child  begin  to  dislike  his  reading  book? 
What  are  the  conditions  that  induce  such  a  dislike  ? 
Has  not  one  reason  been  discovered  by  this  report  ? 
The  child  associates  with  these  books  the  idea  of 
drudgery,  and  probably  with  just  cause.  The  pleas- 
urable element  in  his  reading  work  has,  on  the  whole, 
been  a  minimum.  With  the  book  there  entered  forced 
attention,  reluctant  acquiescence,  tiresome  repetitions, 
—  the  whole  a  weary  grind. 

For  the  child  to  become  conscious  of  his  work  as 

101 


102  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

drudgeiy  is  from  every  standpoint  an  evil.  When  he 
awakens  to  the  fact  that  he  is  going  to  the  book  be- 
cause he  is  told,  not  because  the  book  invites,  the 
chances  of  arousing  a  spontaneous  interest  are  greatly 
lessened,  and  much  has  been  lost. 

How  does  the  child  act  over  the  book  when  he  fol- 
lows the  invitation  that  it  gives  ?  He  reads  and  enjoys 
some  one  thing  until  satisfied ;  when  he  returns  to  the 
book  he  reads  something  else.  He  turns  for  the  second 
and  third  time  to  the  stories  that  he  likes,  and  he  goes 
through  all  and  lingers  longest  where  pastures  are  most 
inviting.  His  procedure  is  similar  to  that  of  an  ^dult, 
and  why  should  it  not  be?  What  would  be  the  effect 
on  the  adult  mind  if  it  were  denied  the  right  to  this 
natural  procedure  m  reading? 

Another  cause  of  drudgery  may  lie  in  the  character 
of  the  book  itself.  The  returns  which  a  child  secures 
from  his  activity  over  the  book  are  often  very  meagre 
in  comparison  with  the  labor  expended.  It  is  the  pro- 
ductive activity  that  gives  the  truest  pleasure.  This 
fact  holds  good  for  the  child  as  well  as  for  the  adult. 
The  productive  side  of  reading  activity  lies  in  the  idea- 
tional process.  Of  the  child  more  cannot  be  demanded 
than  of  the  adult.  He  must  get  something  that  he 
wants  from  a  labor  that  is  relatively  greater  than  that 
of  the  adult,  or  he  is  dissatisfied.  The  ideational  activ- 
ity must  have  overcome  the  consciousness  of  perceptive 
effort  over  the  words  or  the  child  is  drudging,  and  he 
will  soon  discover  it.  He  receives  returns  for  his  work 
in  the  content ;  if  it  is  not  there,  he  is  poorly  paid,  and 
soon  becomes  an  unwilling  laborer. 

We  must  seriously  and  honestly  ask  ourselves  what 


THE  CHILD  AND   THE  BOOK.  103 

the  child  would  like  to  read  about,  not  what  we  would 
like  to  have  him  like  to  read  about,  before  we  shall  al- 
together release  him  from  the  sense  of  drudgery.  A 
charming  home-made  reading  book  was  discovered  in 
the  hands  of  a  little  girl  a  few  months  since.  It  was 
teaching  her  to  read,  and  she  loved  it  dearly.  It  was 
made  up  of  funny  little  situations  of  the  Mother  Goose 
type  written  in  rhyme  and  accompanied  by  drawings. 
The  element  of  wonder  is  strong  in  the  child,  and  his 
love  for  the  fairy_ta.le  persists  for  many  years.  How 
have  our  reading  books  answered  this  demand  in  the 
child's  nature? 

If  we  have  neglected  the  child's  interest  in  making 
our  children's  books,  we  have  equally  neglected  his 
stock  of  apperceiving  ideas.  Probably  no  one  has 
given  serious  thought  to  the  immense  difficulty  a  child 
meets  in  the  apperception  of  the  average  reading  book. 
To  the  child  bred  in  the  large  city,  many  a  reading 
book  must  appear  dull  and  uninteresting. 

An  examination  of  a  first  reader  shows  the  following 
list  of  titles :  The  Moth,  The  Sheep,  The  Cow,  The 
Horse,  The  Bee,  The  Hen,  The  Duck,  The  Rabbit,  The 
Fish,  The  Snail,  The  Cat,  The  Squirrel,  The  Spider. 
Place  over  against  this  list  the  following  facts  reported 
from  the  children  of  Boston  of  school  age  :  5-1  per  cent 
did  not  know  the  sheep,  18.5  per  cent  did  not  know  the 
cow,  52  per  cent  did  not  know  the  bee,  19  per  cent  did 
know  the  hen.  Out  of  150  boys  and  girls  more  than 
50  per  cent  did  not  know  the  squirrel,  and  more  than 
70  per  cent  did  not  know  the  snail.  (See  report  of  G. 
Stanley  Hall  in  "Pedagogical  Seminary,"  No.  I.,  Vol. 
I.  on  "  The  Contents  of  Children's  Minds  on  entering 


104  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

School.")  That  this  condition  is  not  confined  to  our 
very  large  cities  is  shown  in  a  recent  report  of  Princi- 
pal Drum  of  Syracuse,  N.Y.  Among  the  children  in 
his  school  ranging  in  age  from  seven  to  fifteen  years, 
12.6  per  cent  did  not  know  the  squirrel,  7.5  per  cent 
did  not  know  the  frog,  46.1  jDer  cent  did  not  know 
growing  wheat,  and  35  per  cent  did  not  know  the  crow. 
By  many  a  city  child  a  story  like  Kipling's  "  White 
Seal "  could  be  more  readily  understood  than  a  story 
about  a  sheep.  The  zoological  garden  is  more  likely  to 
have  acquainted  him  with  the  former,  and  moreover  the 
story  carries  its  own  setting  so  truly  that  it  is  much 
better  calculated  to  develop  true  concepts  of  the  animal 
in  its  environment  than  is  the  average  scientific  descrip- 
tion. 

When  we  remember  that  the  child's  interest  is  de- 
pendent on  the  number  and  character  of  concepts 
recalled  by  the  words,  we  must  conclude  that  the  child 
and  the  object  must  be  brought  together  in  some  whole- 
some way,  or  we  must  cease  to  describe  these  objects  in 
his  books.  For  it  is  certain  that  the  reading  book  alone 
can  never  teach  the  child  what  he  has  not  apperceiving 
ideas  to  grasp.  Moreover,  such  vague  and  senseless 
teaching  stultifies  the  mind  and  begins  the  work  of 
intellectual  dependence. 

It  should  be  noted  in  this  connection  that  the  ani- 
mals introduced  in  the  fable  or  the  fairy  story  cannot  be 
properly  included  in  this  list,  since  they  are  there  merely 
as  lay  figures  to  point  to  something  else.  They  are  not 
directly  the  subjects  of  thought,  nor  are  they  represented 
in  any  but  a  personified  way,  and  this  the  child  instinc- 
tively appreciates. 


THE   CHILD  AND   THE  BOOK.  105 

The  cliild's  book  must  be  made  for  Tiim.,  and  he  him- 
self must  determine  what  it  shall  be.  Most  children's 
books  must  be  transformed  in  time,  through  the  study 
of  children  themselves.  It  may  be  questioned  if  they 
themselves  may  not  help  to  make  them. 

Apperceptive  ideas  modify  perceptive  activity,  not 
only  directing  it,  but  enriching  and  stimulating  it. 
The  man  who  has  grown  familiar  with  the  history  of 
our  Civil  War  looks  into  the  face  of  Lincoln  and  sees 
there  lines  and  expressions  that  escape  another  who 
lacks  these  apperceiving  concepts.  If  you  want  Lin- 
coln's face  to  look  beautiful  to  the  children,  tell  them 
incidents  that  speak  of  his  great  heart  of  love,  of  his 
long  patience,  of  his  untiring  patriotism,  of  his  gentle- 
ness and  sympathy. 

An  adult  looks  at  pictures  and  reads  books  with  a 
stock  of  interpreting  ideas  that  largely  determine  his 
view.  How  would  he  look  at  these  things  without 
these  ideas  ?  Undoubtedly,  most  of  the  pictures  would 
be  uninteresting,  the  books  insipid.  The  child  often 
looks  at  things  without  apperceiving  ideas,  but  has  he 
no  power  to  take  their  place  ? 

The  adult  perceives  and  apperceives,  the  child  per- 
ceives and  fancies.  He  clothes  his  jDerceptions  with  his 
happy  active  imagination.  What  he  gets  from  this 
activity  we  do  not  clearly  laiow,  but  we  may  be  certain 
that  it  is  something  that  is  animate  and  attractive  to 
himself.  Is  it  strange  that  he  does  not  like  our  books 
that  leave  this  lovely  atmosphere  of  life  and  color  out  ? 
that  force  him  out  of  his  native  atmosphere  and  ask  him 
to  see  what  he  has  not  yet  grown  to  understand?  that 
forget  that  God  himself  has  ordained  that  the  child 


106  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

should  think  in  this  way  and  that  we  thus  devise  in  vain 
another  mode  of  thought  for  him  ? 

Only  a  living  teacher,  who  fully  realizes  the  enormous 
difficulties  that  the  children  meet  when  they  begin  the 
work  of  reading  from  books,  may  be  trusted  to  secure 
them  from  a  sense  of  drudgery  with  its  accompanying 
evils. 

Pleasure  in  effort  is  measured  by  the  quality  of 
returns  as  well  as  by  their  quantity.  Fortunately,  in 
the  first  attempt  to  master  the  book,  there  is  a  feeling 
on  the  child's  part  of  something  new  to  be  overcome. 
To  work  successfully  is  to  increase  this  just  sense  of 
something  won.  Successful  perceptive  activity  over  the 
words  there  must  be,  or  the  result  is  not  true.  Teach 
the  child  to  know  instantly  the  words  that  he  knows, 
an^d  to  know  as  quickly  the  stranger  as  a  stranger. 
Words  not  known  must  not  be  slid  over,  or  the  child 
will  soon  become  weary  of  work  done  poorly.  The 
teacher  who  accepts  no  whispered  story  (sentence)  from 
the  board  or  book  that  is  not  accurately  reported  is 
developing  this  sense  of  honest  self-respect  that  should 
characterize  every  worker.  Anticipate  the  child's 
difficulty,  provide  for  the  overcoming  of  it  so  that  it 
will  seem  like  overcoming  to  him  when  he  meets  it, 
and  he  will  not  feel  like  a  drudge.  But  the  child  can- 
not carry  the  sense  of  slipshod  work  with  a  light  heart 
any  more  than  can  an  adult.  It  will  help  to  make  him 
feel  himself  a  bungling  workman,  and  a  bungling  work- 
man who  is  kept  to  his  task  is  indeed  a  drudge. 

Let  delightful  hours  of  companionship  grow  up  be- 
tween the  teacher  and  the  class  over  the  reading  books. 
Let  the  teacher  add  the  wealth  of  his  own  interest  to 


THE  CHILD  AND    THE  BOOK.  107 

the  subject-matter  in  sucli  wise  that  the  child  reads  at 
every  step  to  gain  new  pleasure  in  new  insight. 

In  a  little  monograph  on  reading,  G.  Stanley  Hall 
tells  us  how  Mrs.  John  Wesley  dressed  her  children  in 
their  best  clothes  one  morning  and  taught  them  the 
alphabet  in  that  one  day.  Dr.  Hall  complains  with 
Colonel  Parker,  that  we  make  the  child's  burden  in 
large  part  by  our  own  way  of  regarding  his  work  as  a 
task. 

One  of  the  keenest  intellectual  pleasures,  as  it  is  one 
of  the  most  stimulating,  is  the  sense  of  overcoming. 
Work  should  be  so  spontaneous  as  to  be  pleasurable  in 
the  main,  just  because  it  is  happy  self-expression.  But 
children,  even  when  very  young,  should  know  the  hap- 
piness that  comes  from  doing  something  that  has  cost 
real  effort. 

One  of  the  strongest  points  in  favor  of  teaching  chil- 
dren phonics  is  that  it  helps  them  to  help  themselves, 
that  it  gives  them  a  means  of  securing  the  results  of 
independent  effort. 

The  child's  three  or  four  years  in  the  primary  school 
ought  to  be  of  greater  worth  than  any  period  of  equal 
length  which  follows.  There  is  no  other  period  when 
it  is  more  important  for  him  to  do  his  best.  He  has 
work  to  do  then,  and  he  should  be  helped  to  do  it  cheer- 
fully, intelligibly,  successfully.  We  would  not  make 
him  a  drudge,  but  we  would  if  we  could,  make  him  love 
to  work  in  such  wise  that  he  goes  home  to  meet  his 
father  and  mother  with  a  clear  sense  of  having  done 
his  part  in  the  environment  to  which  he  has  been  in- 
trusted. The  meaning  of  work,  the  true  meaning  of 
activity,  of  service,  should  be  taught  in  the  primary 


108  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

department.  No  child  should  go  out  from  it  who  has 
not  learned  to  work,  who  has  not  learned  to  respect 
himself  more  because  he  works,  who  has  not  learned  to 
put  forth  effort  unflinchingly  when  that  effort  is  re- 
quired, and  who  has  not  learned  the  pure  pleasure  of 
having  done  his  "level  best." 

This  means  the  generation  of  an  interest  so  sustained 
as  to  induce  a  desire  for  doing  one's  part  —  as  to  stimu- 
late will  to  do  it.  Children  should  always  be  dealt  with 
truthfully.  They  should  never  be  left  to  work  without 
true  motives.  Let  them  understand,  as  far  as  may  be, 
the  purpose  of  the  work  in  general,  as  well  as  the  aim 
of  the  general  lesson  procedure  in  particular.  A  child 
should  be  sometimes  stimulated  by  the  simple  fact  that 
there  is  a  bit  of  hard  work  before  him  in  the  reading 
lesson.  Let  him  put  forth  his  best  effort,  let  him  feel 
the  challenge  that  the  work  makes,  let  him  climb — but 
be  sure  that  he  reaches  the  upper  air  and  gets  the  exhil- 
arating effects  of  his  efforts.  At  such  moments  teachers 
must  be  true  comrades  —  not  to  praise  or  cheaply  com- 
mend, but  to  simply  stand  by,  to  be  alert,  to  see  that  the 
activity  take  the  right  direction,  and  that  at  last  the 
worker  receive  some  touch  of  responsive  gladness  when 
the  battle  is  won.  The  reading  lesson  with  its  besetting 
difficulties  gives  abundant  opportunity  for  such  work. 
Let  the  child  learn  in  these  hard  places  to  be  a  con- 
queror, and  he  will  never  be  a  drudge.  Let  us  learn 
that  lectures  on  good  behavior  are  not  required  when 
children  work  thus.  They  are  gaining  moral  fibre  sis 
well  as  intellectual  poise  through  such  work. 

The  pleasurable  anticipation  that  Mrs.  Wesley's  chil- 
dren  brought   to   the   work  of   learning  the  alphabet 


THE  CHILI)  AND   THE  BOOK.  109 

probably  made  the  activity  over  it  a  stimulating  recre- 
ation. Concentration  was  increased,  and  results  were 
multiplied.  Add  the  element  of  song  to  the  work  of 
mastering  the  first  reading  book,  and  you  will  have  no 
need  to  fear  the  entrance  of  the  spirit  of  drudgery. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE   READING   HABIT. 

Reading  has  been  justly  styled  tlie  "key  to  culture." 
Tlie  school  has  in  the  past  been  so  absorbed  in  devolv- 
ing power  in  pronouncing  words  or  in  helj)ing  children 
to  read  orally,  that  it  has  forgotten  the  great  end  of 
reading  proper.  For  with  the  key  must  be  given 
power  to  use  it  and  a  habit  of  using  it. 

The  conspicuous  failure  in  the  teaching  of  reading  in 
the  past  has  been  due  to  this  grievous  error.  It  was 
not  perceived  that  a  development  of  a  taste  for  reading, 
an  interest  in  the  content  of  the  thing  read,  is  the 
great  fact  in  making  a  reader,  as  it  is  the  source  of  the 
stimulating  influences  that  make  the  overcoming  of 
formal  difficulties  a  comparatively  easy  matter.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  but  that  very  much  of  the  labor  spent 
in  the  school  over  the  reading  lesson  is  in  vain.  More 
than  this,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  work  is  fre- 
quently mischievous,  inducing,  as  it  often  does,  wrong 
habits  and  a  distaste  for  books. 

To  make  our  children  readers  we  must  induce  a  love 
of  books,  and  we  must  cease  to  feel  that  a  child  must 
do  all  of  his  reading  aloud.  It  is  doubtful  if  reading 
should  be  begun  in  the  first  year  at  all,  but  when  it  is 
begun  it  should  be  begun  heartily.  In  the  very  first 
year  of  its  beginning  a  keen  interest  in  books  should  be 
developed,  and  several  books  should  be  read  in  that  year. 

110 


THE  READING  HABIT.  Ill 

There  is  need  of  simple  primers  for  little  children 
written  on  subjects  in  which  they  are  interested,  where 
the  whole  book  represents  continuity  of  thought. 

Every  schoolroom  should  have  its  own  little  collec- 
tion of  choice  books  adapted  to  the  stage  of  develop- 
ment of  the  children,  and  in  the  periods  of  leisure  before 
school,  after  school,  at  the  rainy  day  recess,  or  in  the 
leisure  moments  of  finished  lessons,  the  children  should 
be  allowed  to  use  these  books  freely.  We  should  re- 
member that  the  average  home  represented  by  the  chil- 
dren in  the  public  schools  has  a  meagre  stock  of  best 
books  for  children  ;  and  we  should  remember,  too,  that 
the  public  library  does  not  as  a  rule  provide  for  the 
needs  of  young  childreii,  nor  does  it  attempt  to  form 
the  taste  of  any  child. 

He  who  gives  a  child  power  to  get  thought  by  means 
of  printed  characters  has  put  into  his  possession  a 
means,  which,  if  it  be  properly  used,  may  educate  him; 
but  he  who  has  done  this,  and  in  addition  has  induced 
the  love  for  good  literature,  has  educated  him.  It  has 
been  clearly  proven  that  young  children  like  good  pic- 
tures best.  It  is  not  until  the  taste  has  become  per- 
verted that  pleasure  is  gained  from  the  tawdry  and  the 
overdone.  This  is  as  true  with  books  as  with  pictures. 
Many  an  adult  of  pure  literary  instinct  finds  pleasure 
in  Miss  Andrews'  books,  in  Grimms'  and  Andersen's 
"  Fairy  Tales,"  in  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  in  Kipling's 
"  Jungle  Books,"  in  Charles  Kingsley's  "  Water  Ba- 
bies," and  children  with  unspoiled  taste  like  these  books 
best.  We  must  remember  here,  as  in  art,  that  the  all- 
important  thing  is  for  the  school  to  create  a  love  for 
such  books  before  the  taste  has  become  vitiated. 


112  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

The  range  of  true  classics  widens  with  the  child's 
growing  power  and  interest.  Begin  as  soon  as  possible 
to  put  whole  texts  of  best  things  in  literature  into  the 
reading  class.  Our  reading  books,  made  up  of  frag- 
ments, have  helped  to  develop  a  taste  for  scrappy  read- 
ing, just  as  they  have  signally  failed  to  awaken  genuine 
interest  in  good  literature. 

It  is  noticeable  in  literature  work  with  children  that 
they  invariably  prefer  the  classic  form  of  the  story  to 
the  text  that  has  been  written  especially  for  them. 
Classes  like  to  read  "Hiawatha"  from  the  original  text 
best  ;  they  listen  with  keener  pleasure  to  a  passage 
from  the  "Iliad"  or  "Odyssey"  in  Bryant's  translation 
than  to  some  prose  form  written  for  boys  and  girls. 
This  suggests  that  we  do  not  need  to  adapt  the  classics 
to  the  children,  because  the  children  are  adapted  to  the 
classics. 

But  one  can  look  at  good  pictures  superficially  and 
grow  into  a  sentimentalist ;  so  one  may  learn  to  play 
with  good  literature.  Children  must  be  helped  to  a 
development  of  power  in  reading  intensively.  As  a 
rule,  the  longer  the  class  shows  a  desire  to  linger  over 
the  best  things, — the  more  intensively  it  reads  them, — 
the  better  the  work.  A  few  things  should  be  read  in 
this  way  every  year,  beginning  with  the  fable  or  fairy 
tale  in  the  first  year,  where  children  are  helped  to  grasp 
the  central  ethical  truth,  and  ending  only  with  the 
power  to  grasp  and  trace  the  development  of  the  great 
ethical  content  of  one  of  Shakespeare's  best  dramas. 
Power  to  read  good  books  means  as  a  rule  inclination 
toward  good  books.  The  thorough  reading  of  a  few 
classics  will  go  very  far  toward  making  it  impossible  for 


TUE  READING  HABIT.  113 

the  child  to  take  pleasure  in  the  merely  sensational. 
To  give  him  the  power  of  strong  grasp  of  these  best 
things  is  to  give  him  genuine  pleasure  in  them  and  to 
make  hira  at  the  same  time  conscious  of  the  emptiness 
of  tawdry  books. 

The  reading  habit  is  greatly  furthered  by  helping 
children  to  find  their  book  friends,  and  then  helping 
them  to  be  true  to  these  friends.  There  are  times 
when  the  rapid  continuous  reading  of  a  text  with  a 
firm  mental  grasp  on  the  whole  is  most  commend- 
able, but  he  only  is  a  perfectly  good  reader  who  has 
found  an  author  deep  enough  to  be  lingered  with 
and  returned  to  again  and  again.  Children  have 
their  favorite  songs  and  stories ;  let  the  teacher 
find  these  and  help  further  the  tendency  to  read  the 
poem,  that  "  we  have  been  so  happy  over,"  again  and 
yet  again.  Mental  fibre  develops  with  such  work, 
and  constancy  is  a  first  condition  in  moral  develop- 
ment. 

Very  much  of  literature  consists  in  books  that  ac- 
quaint us  with  other  environments  and  other  ages. 
The  power  of  vivid  realization  should  be  systemati- 
cally cultivated.  This  is  not  merely  an  important 
means  of  helping  children  to  the  content  of  books,  but 
such  imaging  activity  gives  products  that  are  clear  cut, 
complete,  connected,  and  so  better  remembered.  Such 
knowledge  is  an  active,  living  possession,  a  treasure, 
and  an  increasing  pleasui'e  to  its  possessor.  Pictures 
and  concrete  material  of  every  sort  should  be  made  to 
aid  in  giving  children  proper  beginnings.  Judgment 
should  be  appealed  to,  and  every  means  employed  to 
induce  regulated  and  effective  work  in  imagination. 


114  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

Perceptive  activity  of  some  sort  should  precede  any 
attempt  to  visualize  that  which  is  distant.  A  child 
who  is  familiar  with  the  aquarium  in  Central  Park,  and 
Avho  has  seen  the  ocean,  will  follow  Kipling's  story  of 
the  "  White  Seal " ;  these  experiences  jiroviding  him 
with  the  proper  elements  for  imaging.  The  teacher 
who  is  reading  Longfellow's  "  Golden  Legend "  with 
the  grammar  grade  should,  by  means  of  pictures  and 
descriptions,  help  the  children  to  live  through  every 
stage  of  the  journey  from  Germany  into  Italy.  Such 
work  induces  the  habit  of  regulated  imagination. 
Such  work  means  life  for  teacher  and  pupils  alike. 
A  common  interest,  a  comradeship  in  pleasure,  grows 
up  between  them  unconsciously,  and  then  the  hap- 
piest conditions  of  growth  enter,  and  the  way  becomes 
delightful. 

We  must  not  try  to  thrust  our  own  reading  habits, 
our  way  of  looking  at  books,  upon  our  classes.  The 
treatment,  as  well  as  the  choice  of  material,  must  be 
determined  in  large  part  by  the  class  itself.  The 
pupils  who  are  reading  Csesar's  "  Gallic  Wars "  in 
Latin  may  find  great  pleasure  in  Shakespeare's  "  Julius 
Csesar,"  for  the  purpose  of  realizing  the  great  closing 
drama  in  his  life.  Or  they  may  read  comparatively,  to 
see  how  Shakespeare's  representation  of  Caesar  com- 
pares with  that  unconscious  exhibition  of  his  own  char- 
acter shown  throughout  the  Commentaries.  Again,  it 
may  be  read  with  the  class  in  civics  from  the  political 
standpoint,  or  it  may  make  a  profitkble  study  for  a  class 
from  a  purely  ethical  point  of  view. 

Many  of  us  have  read  the  same  book  at  several 
times  in  our  lives,  and  each  time   from  a  new  view- 


THE  BEADING  HABIT.  115 

point.  Indeed,  the  old  volumes  of  Homer  and  Dante 
and  Shakespeare  are  very  good  landmarks  from  which 
to  measure  our  own  development.  New  experiences, 
new  ideas,  new  conceptions  of  life,  renew  these  books ; 
we  apperceive  them  anew.  Ask  yourself  what  the 
child  brings  to  the  book  before  you  determine  how 
you  will  present  it  to  him. 

"  Habit  enfeebles  all  passive  impressions  and  develops 
all  active  operations,"  says  Compayre.  In  its  simple, 
normal  course,  habit,  in  order  to  perpetuate  itself  in 
the  most  fortunate  way,  must  be  friendly  to  the  organ- 
ism, serviceable  to  the  essential  life.  To  determine 
on  the  necessary,  vigorous,  healthful  reactions,  and  to 
plant  these  in  the  life  of  the  pupil  so  that  the  most  for- 
tunate self-expression  results,  is  an  all-important  work 
in  education. 

The  teacher  who  has  successfully  helped  a  child  to 
work  with  the  relation  of  ideas  by  means  of  printed 
words  has  secured  a  vital  reaction  that  has  in  it  tlie 
power  of  growing  into  a  living  habit.  Mental  func- 
tioning of  this  sort  is  productive ;  it  creates  its  own 
reactions,  it  generates  healthful  resultant  stimulations, 
hence  it  has  power  of  intensive,  healthful  self-perpetu- 
ation. 

If  we  look  for  the  cause  of  this,  we  find  that  the 
mind  in  this  work  of  relating  concepts  is  finding  its 
own  natural  and  wholesome  activity.  The  rhythmical 
freedom  and  movement  of  this  activity  is  familiar  to 
us  as  interest.  To  that  which  interests  us,  we  return 
again  and  again.  We  may  put  it  in  another  way,  and 
say  that  the  child  has  gained  something,  that  his  activ- 
ity is  productive,  for  the  "  I  have  an  idea  "  is,  after  all, 


116  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

the  expression  of  a  mental  acquisition.  It  is  therefore 
pleasurably  stimulating. 

The  habit  imposed  from  without  lacks  tenacity. 
That  which  is  purely  artificial  takes  but  feeble  hold. 
We  have  need  to  be  grateful  indeed  for  this  great 
law  of  life,  as  potent  in  the  world  of  mind  as  in  the 
physical  world.  Because  of  it  the  sins  of  omission  and 
commission,  that  have  filled  our  schools  with  grievous 
mistakes  and  produced  results  that  reproach  us,  have 
not  utterly  destroyed  the  lives  that  they  have  crippled. 
The  child  has  preserved  himself  from  the  artificiality 
of  much  of  the  teaching  work  that  has  but  stultified 
his  mind,  by  afterward  sloughing  off  the  wretched 
psychical  habits  that  it  had  induced.  No  one  can 
expect  for  a  moment  to  make  a  child  a  reader  of  words 
only,  and  keep  him  a  reader.  Be  sure  he  will  not 
trouble  himself  with  such  make-believe  activity  when 
once  he  is  free  to  choose  for  himself. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  reading  habit  we  must  never 
for  an  instant  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  it  rests  on  this 
foundation.  The  habit  has  grown  into  life  and  found 
its  roots  when  this  initial  power  has  developed  into  a 
systematic  healthful  activity.  The  teacher  who  helps 
the  child  to  this  power  of  grasping  thought  has  induced 
the  potential  conditions  that  may  yet  go  astray.  Not 
until  the  child  has  developed  a  selective  interest  in 
books  of  a  wholesome  sort,  is  the  reading  habit  safely 
established.  For  these  potential  conditions  may  be 
turned  from  a  normal  course  ;  the  child  may  learn  to 
take  poisonous  food  and  like  the  taste  of  it.  Bad 
literature  may  become  agreeable. 

Plainly  the  school  has   two  great  things  to  do  in 


THE  READING  HABIT.  117 

teaching  reading  in  a  truly  educative  way.  It  must 
by  the  use  of  right  method  induce  power  in  grasping 
tliought,  and  it  must  by  the  development  of  a  dis- 
criminating taste  make  it  possible  for  that  power  to 
perpetuate  itselfjiealthfully.  '' 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE  TEACHER'S  PREPARATION. 

The  first  condition  of  making  profitable  tlie  reading 
lessons,  drawn  from  science,  lies  in  the  teacher  herself. 
The  first  step  toward  successful  work  is  made  by  the 
teacher  in  her  own  study  of  material. 

This  science  work  can  in  no  wise  be  done  from  books 
alone.  The  teacher  without  eyes  will  inevitably  have  a 
class  that  do  not  see.  Her  own  eyes  must  be  open,  and 
her  interest  active,  in  the  field  where  she  would  work 
successfully  with  her  class. 

The  laws  for  the  development  of  her  powers  of 
observation  are  precisely  those  that  govern  her  class. ' 
She  must  do  actual  work  on  the  material  itself  ;  she 
must  learn  to  do  her  work  thoroughly,  exactly.  Let 
her  observe,  draw,  describe.  If  she  can  do  this  in  a 
disinterested  way,  for  the  love  of  the  work,  so  much 
the  better  ;  interest  will  then  be  spontaneous,  and  spon- 
taneous interest  possesses  a  strong  contagious  quality. 

Favorite  haunts  are  known  to  lovers  only.  Flowers 
blossom,  birds  build,  plants  grow,  living  creatures  thrive 
for  him  who  cares  for  them.  The  teacher  who  learns 
to  care  for  nature  through  her  own  study  will  find  it 
growing  into  her  life  as  a  saving  power.  No  class  of 
workers  needs  strong,  healthful,  intellectual  stimulation 
more  than  teachers.  A  teacher  should  be  an  enthusi- 
astic student,  not  merely  that  he  may  develop  a  respon- 

118 


THE  teacher's  PREPARATION.  119 

sive  enthusiasm  in  his  pupils,  but  for  his  own  sake. 
The  demands  on  the  vital  life  of  the  teacher  are  very 
great,  and  he  must  reenforce  himself  constantly  in  a 
hearty,  wholesome  rg-creation,  or  wear  exceeds  repair, 
and  the  essential  element  of  spontaneity  begins  to 
decline. 

Let  teachers  make  their  own  observations,  using 
books  for  direction  and  confirmation.  Let  them  make 
their  own  drawings,  their  own  descriptions.  Carry 
these  rules  into  teaching  :  help  the  children  to  see 
accurately  and  to  express  with  exactness  and  originality 
what  they  see,  by  means  of  drawing  as  well  as  descrip- 
tion. Let  the  greatest  possible  wealth  of  association, 
consistent  with  orderly  progress,  gather  around  the 
work,  and  let  the  whole  be  penetrated  by  a  wholesome 
interest. 

It  is  one  of  the  beautiful  laws  of  compensation  that 
the  work  we  do  in  an  effort  toward  better  service 
enriches  us  in  turn  tenfold.  Every  hour  spent  in  keep- 
ing children  after  school  could  be  exchanged  for  hours 
by  the  brookside,  in  the  park,  in  the  haunts  where 
children  love  to  go,  and  where  wise  grown  folk  love 
to  be.  Every  bit  of  strong,  positive  work  makes  it 
possible  to  drop  some  negative,  oppressive  condition 
that  is  hurtful  to  teacher  and  pupil  alike. 

"  One  tiling  that  happened  in  that  first  field  lesson," 
said  an  intelligent  Minneapolis  lady,  "  was  this  —  the 
children  discovered  the  teacher  !  They  had  not  sus- 
pected until  that  day  that  she  was  human  !  " 

It  is  true  that  the  teacher  must  mediate  between  the 
child  and  the  book,  but  it  is  twice  true  of  the  science 
book.     No  science  reader  can  be  written  for  children 


120  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

that  does  not  presuppose  much  preliminary  work  on 
the  part  of  the  teacher.  The  reading  lesson  is  not  the 
science  lesson,  and  there  should  be  no  attempt  to  make 
it  such.  Bright,  enthusiastic  work  in  nature  study- 
should  generate  the  interest  —  lead  the  way  —  and  the 
reading  should  follow.  It  is  impossible  for  any  one  but 
the  teacher  to  write  a  perfect  nature  reader  for  any  par- 
ticular class.  If  it  seems  desirable  for  the  class  to  use  the 
ready-made  reader,  they  must  be  prepared  for  it. 

Since  the  material  in  reading  work  introduces  the 
child  into  the  two  great  worlds  of  humanity  and  science, 
the  teacher  herself  must  live  in  both.  She  must  be  as 
sympathetic  a  comrade  in  the  first  as  in  the  second. 
Indeed,  the  former  field  requires  the  clearer  eye. 

In  the  treatment  of  historic  and  literary  material  the 
teacher  begins  the  great  work  of  interpreting  the  world 
of  humanity  for  the  child.  For  she  is  not  merely  estab- 
lishing historic  and  literary  sequences,  she  is  building 
up  a  framework  of  knowledge  into  which  the  child's 
own  life  must  be  consciously  set  later  when  he  awakens 
to  the  fact  that  he  himself  is  a  part  of  this  world  of 
humanity.  The  teacher's  method  of  doing  his  work  on 
the  historic-literary  side  will  determine  much  with  re- 
spect to  his  pupil's  attitude  toward  life.  It  will  be  a 
force  to  help  or  hinder  the  pupil  in  putting  himself 
into  right  relation  to  life  on  all  sides. 

Much  work  must  be  done  before  the  child  is.  pre- 
pared with  clear,  vigorous,  true,  well-articulated  ideas 
respecting  life  as  it  exhibits  itself  in  the  physical  world. 
More  work  must  be  done  before  he  comprehends  intelli- 
gently the  world  of  humanity  to  which  he  belongs. 

When  the  period  of  adolescence  is  reached,  and  the 


THE  teacher's  PREPARATION.  121 

child  awakens  to  a  new  consciousness  of  social  and 
ethical  laws  and  their  operation  in  his  own  life,  when 
the  character  of  the  future  man  begins  to  take  definite 
form,  then  the  ideas  of  life  which  the  school  has  been 
forming  are  forces  to  determine  and  shape  the  future. 

Reading  work  which  passes  over  into  literature  that 
never  ceases  to  be  an  important  feature  in  the  lives  of 
intelligent  men  and  women  will  do  much  in  shaping 
such  ideas.  The  child  finding  a  teacher  who  loves 
great  literature,  Avho  enjoys  good  art,  and  who  at  the 
same  time  possesses  an  intelligent  social  sympathy  is 
indeed  fortunate.  He  has  found  a  friend,  a  comrade, 
a  leader,  who  will  reveal  to  him  the  world  of  which  he 
is  unconscious,  in  a  way  to  inform  the  intellect,  stimu- 
late noble  desires,  and  set  forces  at  work  that  are  potent 
in  the  formation  of  living  character. 

Finally,  it  must  be  frankly  confessed  that  there  are 
many  unsolved  problems  connected  with  the  teaching 
of  reading.  Many  of  these  can  be  solved  by  teachers 
only.  The  successful  solution  of  the  reading  problem 
must  come  from  the  children  themselves.  Those  who 
are  nearest  to  them  are  in  the  place  of  vantage  in  find- 
ing this  solution.  Every  day  children  ar-e  telling  their 
teachers  in  the  reading  class  by  undoubted  signs  things 
that  puzzle  the  wise. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  questions  that  we 
must  answer  from  our  observation  of  children :  — 

(1)  What   phases    of   plant   life   interest  the   child 

most  ? 

(2)  To  what  extent  does  the  care  of  plants  enhance 

the  child's  interest  in  them  ? 


122  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

(3)  What  is  the  child's  way  of  looking  at  a  plant  or 

an  animal,  or  at  nature  in  general  ?  Is  his 
perceptive  activity  like  the  adult's,  or  is  it 
more  largely  mixed  with  fancy  ? 

(4)  What  is  the  effect  on  the  child  of  doing  severely 

exact  science  work  according  to  the  adult 
standard  ?  Would  it  not  be  more  scientific 
to  ask  him  to  do  it  well  in  the  child's  way  ? 

(5)  What   is   the   exact   order   of    the    difficulties, 

major  and  minor,  that  a  child  must  meet  in 
mastering  reading  through  the  first  primer  ? 

(6)  What  are  the  effects  of  phonics  on  the  child's 

work  in  the  first  grade,  in  the  second  grade, 
in  the  fourth  grade  ? 

(7)  Does  the  use  of  phonics  interfere  with  the  habit 

of  quickly  recognizing  the  word  as  a  whole  ? 

(8)  What  other  means  of  sharpening  auditory  per- 

ceptions can  you  devise  ? 

(9)  To   what   extent   do  children  do  work  in  the 

silent  pronunciation  of  words  as  they  read  ? 

(10)  Does  this  tendency  increase  or  decrease  with 

concentration  ?  What  are  the  characteristics 
of  the  mental  activity  when  the  child  becomes 
thoroughly  interested  ? 

(11)  To  what  extent  does  the  stimulating  effect  of 

a  perfectly  rhythmic  and  successful  ideational 
activity  react  on  the  visualizing  process  over 
words  ? 

(12)  Does  the  child   learn   the  words  more  easily 

when  he  is  interested  ?  ]\Iore  unconsciously  ? 
Does  the  thinking  process  tend  to  make  us 
work  with  sentence  wholes,  or  with  words 
separately  ? 


THE  teacher's  PREPARATION.  123 

As  the  reading  process  becomes  more  and 
more  successful,  does  the  "  sentence  sense " 
increase  or  decrease  ? 

(13)  How  may  we  develop  this  "  sentence  sense  "  in 

the  child  ? 

(14)  Under  what  condition  does  the  child  return 

to  the  word,  "letting  go"  of  the  thought 
entirely  ? 

What  is  the  effect  of  this  on  the  emotional 
tone  ?  On  results  in  work  ?  On  the  reading 
habit? 

(15)  Try  simplifying  a  fairy  tale  and  make  a  read- 

ing lesson  of  it  :  watch  the  results  narrowly. 
Try  Mother  Goose  with  your  first  grade  : 
watch  the  results.  Distinguish  between  a 
love  of  novelty  and  a  genuine  growing  inter- 
est in  the  subject  itself.  Is  there  anything  in 
common  between  the  two  ? 

(16)  Analyze  the  most  successful  devices  you  have 

used  in  your  reading  work  and  determine 
what  element  in  the  device  makes  it  effective. 
Try  to  have  the  first  oral  reading  grow  spon- 
taneously from  the  child's  desire  for  expres- 
sion, and  note  the  character  of  the  expression. 
Try  to  make  oral  reading  a  means  of  ex- 
pression merely,  a  means  of  putting  the  child 
into  a  closer  social  and  sympathetic  relation 
with  others,  watch  the  result  in  the  child's 
general  attitude  toward  the  subject.  If  a 
reading  book  were  to  be  made  just  for  the 
child  alone,  Avhat  would  it  be  like  ? 

(17)  As  you  have  opportunity  of  watching  children 


124  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

who  have  been  variously  taught,  try  to  de- 
termine exactly  the  effects  of  the  various 
methods. 

Why  do  your  children  spell  poorly  ?  Why 
do  they  spell  well  ? 

(18)  To  what  extent   does   the   rate  of   procedure 

effect  concentration  ? 

(19)  Try  to  find  the  very  best  of  which  your  pupils 

are  capable  along  various  lines  : 

Rapid,  accurate  visual  perception. 
Rapid,  accurate  auditory  perceptions. 
Power  to  grasp  the  sentence  as  a  whole. 
Power  to  think  by  means  of  printed  sentences. 
Power  to  sustain  concentration. 

What  is  the  effect  on  the  children  them- 
selves of  letting  them  drop  below  this  best 
possible  ? 

(20)  What  is  the  effect  on  the  child  of  believing 

that  the  thing  to  be  done  is  hard  before  he 
begins  to  do  it  ? 

The  teacher  who  has  observed  these  and 
kindred  problems  for  herself,  reaching  care- 
fully thought  out  conclusions  and  adjusting 
the  work  at  every  step  to  the  needs  of  her 
class,  will  have  taught  herself  how  to  teach 
reading. 


APPENDIX  I. 

THE  LIFE  OF  A  BEAN.i 
I.  THE  BABY  BEAN  IN  BED. 

I  AM  a  little  baby  bean. 

I  am  white. 

I  am  round  and  smooth. 

Little  Nell  put  me  in  bed. 

]\Iy  bed  is  the  earth. 

I  like  the  soft,  warm  earth. 

It  is  my  blanket. 

My  blanket  covers  me  all  up. 

The  sun  loves  me. 

He  makes  my  bed  warm. 

The  rain  loves  me. 

It  gives  me  water  to  drink. 

I  love  the  good  rain. 

Little  Nell  loves  me. 

I  love  little  Nell. 

I  shall  go  to  sleep  now. 

The  sun  and  the  rain  will  wake  me. 

Do  you  know  what  I  shall  do  then  ? 

n.     HOW   THE   BABY   BEAN   WOKE. 

Good  morning,  Nell. 
Have  you  come  to  see  me  ? 

1  Published  by  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.  Copyright,  1901,  by  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

125 


126  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

You  put  me  to  sleep  under  the  blanket. 

The  sun  woke  me. 

See,  I  have  grown  ! 

The  sun  and  the  rain  made  me  grow. 

My  coat  is  torn,  I  have  grown  so  large  ! 

Do  you  see  my  leaves,  Nell  ? 

Why  are  your  leaves  folded,  little  bean  ? 

They  were  folded  in  the  cotyledons. 

Do  you  know  why  I  bend  my  head? 

I  push  with  my  back. 

Then  my  head  is  not  hurt. 

The  cotyledons  are  open. 

I  put  my  head  out  of  the  cotyledons. 

I  put  my  feet  into  the  ground. 

You  call  my  feet  roots. 

Soon  I  shall  lift  my  head  and  look  at  the  sun. 

in.     HOW   THE   LITTLE   BEAN   GEEW. 

Where  is  my  little  bean  ? 

Here  I  am,  Nell. 

Don't  you  know  me  ? 

I  don't  see  you,  little  bean. 

I  have  grown  so  large ! 

That  is  why  you  don't  know  me. 

Oh,  now  I  know  you,  little  bean  I 

Do  you  see  my  coat,  Nell  ? 

No,  where  is  your  coat,  little  bean  ? 

I  have  grown  too  large  for  my  coat. 

I  saw  it  was  torn,  little  bean. 

See  how  tall  I  am,  Nell ! 

I  don't  bend  now. 


APPENDIX  I.  127 

How  high  you  hold  your  head,  little  bean. 

Yes,  I  like  to  see  the  sun. 

Your  cotyledons  have  grown  small. 

You  know  what  my  cotyledons  are  for,  Nell  ? 

I  keep  my  food  in  my  cotyledons. 

Is  that  why  they  grow  smaller,  little  bean  ? 

Yes,  I  am  using  the  food. 

Your  leaves  are  not  folded  now,  little  bean. 

They  have  grown,  Nell. 

My  feet  have  grown,  too. 

IV.    WHAT   THE   ROOT    SAID. 

I  was  a  little  root. 

Now  I  am  large  and  strong ! 

I  am  in  the  ground. 

I  hold  the  plant. 

The  wind  cannot  pull  me  up. 

Do  you  see  how  many  parts  I  have  ? 

I  call  these  parts  rootlets. 

My  rootlets  are  very  strong. 

My  rootlets  are  crooked. 

I  can  hold  firmly. 

My  rootlets  help  me  hold. 

See,  how  many  little  threads  my  rootlets  have  ! 

These  little  threads  are  root  hairs. 

These  little  root  hairs  help  to  make  me  strong. 

V.    THE   BEAN    STEM's    WORK. 

I  am  long  and  slender. 
I  am  smooth. 
I  am  like  a  tube. 


128  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

I  am  called  the  stem. 

I  have  work  to  do. 

I  hold  the  leaves. 

I  hold  the  flowers  too. 

I  keep  the  leaves  apart. 

I  hold  the  leaves  to  the  sun. 

The  leaves  need  the  sun. 

I  have  more  work  still  to  do. 

I  carry  food  to  the  leaves  and  flowers. 

You  must  have  food  to  grow,  little  Nell. 

The  leaves  and  flowers  must  have  food  too. 

The  food  comes  from  the  roots. 

It  goes  to  the  leaves  and  flowers. 

It  passes  through  me. 

I  am  happy  in  my  work. 

I  must  do  it  well. 

Then  the  leaves  and  flowers  will  grow  strong. 

Don't  you  think  a  bean  stem  has  much  to  do  ? 

What  can  you  do,  Nell  ? 

Vr.    WHAT  THE  LEAVES   SAID. 

Good  morning,  Nell ! 

We  are  not  baby  leaves  now. 

We  are  not  folded  up  now. 

See,  how  we  are  spread  out ! 

Do  you  like  our  new  dresses  ? 

Are  they  not  a  pretty  color  ? 

The  good  sun  helps  to  make  us  this  pretty  color. 

What  do  you  think  we  do  all  day  ? 

Do  you  see  the  dear  little  bud  where  we  meet  the  stem  ? 

We  take  good  care  of  it. 


APPENDIX  I.  129 

It  never  gets  cold. 

At  night  we  bend  over  the  bud  to  keep  it  warm. 

When  morning  comes,  the  little  bud  says, 

"  Thank  you,  dear  leaves." 
Then  we  spread  ourselves  out  to  the  sun. 

There  are  three  of  us. 

We  all  sit  on  one  long  stem. 

We  are  folded  together  in  the  bud. 

We  came  out  of  the  bud  together. 

We  are  little  sister  leaves. 

You  should  see  us  dance  in  the  wind. 

We  love  the  wind. 

We  love  the  rain  too. 

We  bathe  in  the  rain. 

Then  the  sun  warms  us. 

All  day  long  we  work  together. 

Shall  I  tell  you  what  we  do  ? 

You  breathe  the  air,  little  Nell. 

You  could  not  live  without  the  pure  air. 

We  breathe,  too. 

We  take  in  air  for  the  plant. 

Then  the  plant  grows  strong. 

We  need  the  sweet  air. 

The  rain  helps  us. 

The  sun  helps  us. 

We  need  the  rain  and  sun. 

The  soil  feeds  us. 

We  need  the  good  soil. 

Are  we  not  happy  leaves  ? 


130  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

See  how  we  point  to  the  ground. 

Would  you  like  to  know  why  ? 

Do  you  see  these  little  grooves  ? 

Our  veins  make  these  grooves. 

When  it  rains,  the  water  runs  down  them. 

I  can  hear  them  say,  "  Thank  you,  dear  leaves." 

They  do  not  get  enough  water  that  way. 

I  will  tell  you  how  they  get  more. 

We  send  water  in  another  way. 

Our  stem  helps  us  do  it. 

It  has  a  little  groove  in  it. 

What  do  you  think  the  little  groove  is  for? 

The  water  runs  down  the  little  groove. 

Then  it  runs  down  the  plant  stem. 

It  runs  to  the  ground. 

Then  the  little  roots  have  more  water. 

We  like  to  help  the  roots  under  the  ground. 

We  like  to  help  the  dear  little  buds  too. 

Vn.    WHAT   THE   LITTLE   BUD   SAID. 

Do  3^ou  see  me  too,  Nell  ? 
I  am  a  little  baby  bud. 
The  leaf  takes  care  of  me. 
The  leaf  keeps  me  dry  and  warm  at  night. 
In  the  daytime  it  lets  the  sunshine  kiss  me. 
Do  you  see  my  little  stem  ? 
Are  you  ever  hungry,  Nell  ? 
I  am  hungry  now. 

The  juice  that  runs  through  the  stems  brings  me 
food. 


APPENDIX  I.  131 

Do  you  know  where  the  juice  comes  from  ? 

It  comes  from  the  roots  and  leaves. 

Don't  you  think  that  every  one  is  good  to  me  ? 

Do  you  see  my  green  coat  ? 

It  looks  like  two  leaves  folded  together. 

What  do  you  think  it  will  be  ? 

It  will  be  another  leaf. 

See  my  two  sisters. 

They  are  older  than  I. 

Are  they  not  pretty  ? 

Their  coats  are  in  two  parts. 

You  can  see  their  white  dresses  under  their  green 

coats. 
They  will  be  flowers  some  day. 
I  can  work  for  them  then. 
I  have  many  friends. 
Can  you  tell  me  their  names  ? 


VIII.    NELL  S   STORY. 

I  saw  my  bean  plant  to-day. 

What  do  you  think  I  found  ? 

I  found  a  lovely  white  flower ! 

Last  night  there  was  only  a  flower  bud. 

To-day  there  is  this  lovely  flower. 

I  think  the  warm  sun  opened  it. 

The  whole  plant  is  like  new. 

I  think  it  is  happy  over  the  flower. 

The  flower  is  the  crown  of  the  plant. 

I  could  smell  the  sweet  flower. 

Will  it  have  work  to  do  ? 

I  must  watch  and  see. 


132  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

IX.    "WHAT   THE   FLOWER   SAID. 

Good  morning,  Nell, 

Have  you  come  to  see  me  ? 

Here  I  am  under  the  green  leaves. 

The  green  leaves  hide  me. 

Do  you  know  me  ? 

I  have  grown  since  you  saw  me. 

Then  I  was  a  baby  bud. 

Now  I  am  a  flower. 

Do  you  like  my  white  dress  ? 

Is  it  not  pretty  ? 

Do  you  see  my  little  sisters  ? 

They  have  on  white  dresses,  too. 

We  live  together  on  a  long  stem. 

We  are  happy  together. 

We  have  many  visitors. 

The  bees  visit  us. 

The  butterflies  visit  us. 

Little  boys  and  girls  visit  us,  too. 

We  have  work  to  do,  Nell. 

We  help  to  make  the  world  beautiful. 

We  give  food  to  the  bees. 

The  butterflies  like  to  come  to  us. 

Little  boys  and  girls  love  to  look  at  us. 

We  make  them  happy. 

We  do  all  this. 

We  do  more  work  yet. 

That  work  is  a  secret  now. 

Watch  us  for  a  few  days,  dear  Nell. 

Then  you  will  see  something  wonderful. 

Then  you  will  know  our  beautiful  secret. 


APPENDIX  I.  133 

How  pretty  you  are,  dear  Flower. 

I  like  to  look  at  you. 

You  make  me  happy. 

You  are  very  small. 

You  look  like  a  tiny  butterfly. 

Your  dress  is  soft  and  white. 

You  make  the  whole  bean  plant  look  beautiful. 

How  the  plant  must  love  you  ! 

I  will  take  care  of  you. 

I  will  watch  you  every  day. 

I  shall  try  to  find  out  your  wonderful  secret. 

X.   THE  BEAN  PLANT's  FRIENDS. 

Good  morning,  Sun. 

I  see  you  are  looking  at  me. 

I  love  you.  Sun. 

You  are  so  good  to  me  ! 

You  keep  me  warm  and  make  me  grow. 

I  shall  look  at  you  all  day  long. 

You  are  so  bright ! 

Are  you  here,  too,  Nell? 

I  did  not  see  you. 

I  was  talking  with  the  sun. 

Do  you  see  him,  Nell  ? 

He  loves  me,  Nell,  and  he  loves  you,  too. 

I  like  you,  Nell,  for  you  bring  me  water. 

You  and  the  sun  are  my  friends. 

O,  how  it  rains  ! 

You  are  good  to  me.  Rain. 

Good-by,  dear  Sun. 

I  cannot  see  you  now. 

I  like  you.  Rain. 


134  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

You  make  me  grow  and  you  make  me  happy. 
I  have  three  friends,  —  the  Sun,  Nell,  and  the  Rain. 
I  like  all  my  friends. 
They  are  all  good  to  me. 

XI.      THE   pod's   story. 

You  all  know  me. 

I  am  a  pod. 

My  work  is  to  care  for  the  baby  beans. 

Little  Nell  says  I  look  like  a  cradle. 

My  baby  beans  live  in  this  cradle. 

See  how  happy  they  look  ! 

I  am  not  like  most  cradles. 

I  can  rock  in  the  wind. 

I  am  held  in  place  by  a  short  stem. 

Each  baby  has  a  place. 

A  few  days  ago  we  were  green. 

Now  we  are  yellow. 

I  saw  little  Nell  pick  a  pod  from  this  plant. 

You  may  pick  me  soon. 

XII.  THE  BEAN  SEED's  STORY. 

Little  Nell  has  picked  us. 

We  have  left  our  cradle. 

It  is  brown  and  dry. 

We  are  bean  seeds  now. 

All  summer  the  good  bean  plant  worked  for  us. 

It  worked  every  day. 

Its  stem  grew  high  and  strong. 

Its  roots  grew  long. 

Its  leaves  spread  out. 


APPENDIX  I.  135 

Its  buds  grew  to  be  flowers. 

When  the  flowers  were  gone,  Nell  found  our 

cradles  where  the  flowers  had  been. 
The  dear  bean  plant  was  our  mother. 
When  we  were  ripe,  Nell  picked  us. 
She  will  keep  us  safe  all  winter. 
In  the  spring  Nell  will  plant  us. 
Then  we  shall  begin  our  work. 


REVIEW. 

Who  are  we  ? 

I  am  brown. 

I  have  many  small  threads  on  me. 

Do  you  know  the  name  of  these  threads  ? 

I  take  food  from  the  bean  plant. 

The  soil  and  the  rain  give  me  food. 

I  hold  the  plant  in  the  ground. 

Then  the  wind  cannot  blow  it  away. 

Do  you  know  my  name  ? 

I  wonder  if  you  know  me  ! 

I  am  broad  and  green. 

I  breathe  for  the  bean  plant. 

I  cover  the  baby  buds  at  night. 

Then  the  cold  cannot  hurt  them. 

I  bend  when  it  rains. 

Then  the  rain-drops  must  fall  to  the  roots. 

I  am  heart-shaped. 

Who  am  I? 

I  like  the  sun  and  the  sun  likes  me. 
I  turn  to  the  sun. 


136  MANUAL  OF  BEADING. 

The  bees  like  me. 

Boys  and  girls  like  me,  too. 

I  am  white. 

But  I  do  not  wear  my  white  dress  long. 

I  help  the  plant  to  be  beautiful. 

I  help  to  make  the  pod. 

What  is  my  name  ? 

I  am  long  and  slender. 

I  am  shaped  like  your  pencil. 

I  am  not  strong. 

I  cannot  stand  alone. 

Sometimes  I  climb  up  a  stick. 

Sometimes  a  string  helps  me  to  climb. 

I  have  work  to  do. 

Nell  has  work,  too. 

My  work  is  to  hold  the  leaves  up. 

I  hold  the  flowers  up,  too. 

I  carry  up  food  to  the  leaves  and  flowers. 

Do  you  know  me  ? 

I  am  a  little  green  house. 

I  am  shaped  like  a  boat. 

I  take  care  of  the  bean  babies. 

I  keep  the  rain  out. 

I  keep  the  babies  snug  and  warm. 

When  they  have  grown,  I  open  my  doors. 

Then  little  Nell  takes  them  out. 

Sometimes  the  wind  blows  them  out. 

Sometimes  I  snap  and  throw  them  out 

Then  my  work  is  done. 

Have  you  ever  seen  me  ? 


APPENDIX  I.  137 

I  am  round  and  smooth  and  white. 

Within  my  coat  are  two  cotyledons. 

Between  my  cotyledons  is  a  baby  plant. 

The  bean  plant  worked  for  us  all  summer. 

The  winter  is  cold. 

I  must  wait  for  spring. 

In  the  spring  I  shall  be  put  in  the  warm 

earth. 
Then  the  baby  plant  between  ray  cotyledons 

will  grow. 
Who  am  I  ? 

THE   LITTLE   PLANT. 
In  the  heart  of  a  seed, 

Buried  deep,  so  deep, 
A  dear  little  plant 

Lay  fast  asleep. 

"Wake,"  said  the  sunshine, 

"  And  creep  to  the  light ;  " 
"  Wake,"  said  the  voice 
Of  rain-drops  bright. 

The  little  plant  heard, 

And  it  rose  to  see 
What  the  wonderful 

Outside  world  might  be. 

(BLA.TE  Louise  Brown,  in  the  "  Child's  World.") 

By  permission. 


APPENDIX   II. 

"  Such  fairy  tales  sliow  in  intelligible  form  the  eter- 
nal battle  which  is  the  inheritance  of  humanity  —  the 
battle  between  good  and  evil ;  and  they  plant  in  the 
young  child-heart  the  beautiful  faith  that  good  is  cer- 
tainly stronger  than  evil ;  that  he  who  holds  fast  to  the 
good  need  not  fear  evil.  Now  the  child  looks  with  glad 
hope  into  the  future  of  his  boundless,  shining  life  and 
thinks,  '  When  I  am  large  I  will  do  as  the  good  fairy 
does.' "  —  Herder. 

THE   SWEET  BROTH. 
Translated  from  the  German  of  Jacob  and  Wilhelm  Grimm. 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  little  girl  who  was  very 
poor  and  who  lived  all  alone  with  her  mother,  and  one 
day  she  had  nothing  to  eat. 

So  she  went  out  into  the  woods,  and  there  an  old 
woman  met  her  who  knew  all  her  troubles  and  gave  her 
a  little  cup.  The  old  woman  said,  "  You  must  say  to 
it,  '  Little  cup,  boil,'  and  it  will  cook  good  sweet  broth  ; 
and  when  you  say,  '  Little  cup,  stop,'  it  will  stop  cook- 
ing." The  little  girl  brought  the  cup  home  to  her 
mother,  and  they  were  not  hungry  or  poor  any  more ; 
and  they  ate  the  sweet  broth  as  often  as  they  wished. 

One  time  when  the  little  girl  had  gone  away,  the 
mother  said,  "  Little  cup,  cook,"  and  it  boiled ;  and  she 

138 


APPENDIX  II.  139 

ate  all  she  wanted.  Then  she  wanted  the  cup  to  stop 
cooking,  but  she  did  not  know  the  word,  so  it  boiled  and 
boiled  until  the  broth  ran  out  over  the  top  ;  and  it 
boiled  and  boiled  the  kitchen  and  house  full. 

And  it  boiled  and  boiled  the  second  house  and  street 
full,  as  if  it  would  feed  the  whole  world.  The  people 
did  not  know  what  to  do.  At  last,  when  only  one  house 
remained,  the  little  girl  came,  and  only  said,  "  Little 
cup,  stop,"  and  it  stopped  boiling.  But  people  who 
wished  to  come  into  the  house  had  to  eat  their  way  in. 

What  is  the  central  thought  of  the  above  ?     Why  did 
trouble  arise  from  the  possession  of  the  fairy's  gift  ? 
How  should  fairy  gifts  (good  gifts)  be  treated  ? 
How  find  a  day-by-day  application  of  this  truth  ? 
Try  to  adapt  this  for  the  reading  lesson. 

THE   STAE   DOLLARS. 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  little  girl  whose  father 
and  mother  were  dead,  and  she  was  so  poor  that  she  had 
no  little  chamber  to  live  in  and  no  little  bed  to  sleep  in, 
and  at  last  nothing  at  all  but  the  clothes  on  her  body 
and  a  little  piece  of  bread  in  her  hand. 

But  she  was  good,  and  because  she  was  forgotten  by 
the  world  she  went,  trusting  in  the  dear  God,  out  into 
the  field.  There  she  met  an  old  man  who  said,  "  Oh, 
give  me  something  to  eat,  I  am  so  hungry ! "  She 
reached  him  the  whole  piece  of  bread  and  said,  "  God 
bless  thee,"  and  went  farther. 

There  came  a  child  that  cried  and  said,  "  My  head  is 
so  cold,  give  me  something  to  cover  it  with." 


140  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

Then  the  little  girl  took  her  cap  and  gave  him.  She 
went  on  a  little  farther,  when  another  little  child  came ; 
it  had  no  little  dress  on  and  was  freezing,  and  still  far- 
ther another  begged  for  her  little  coat,  and  to  both  of 
them  she  gave. 

At  last  she  came  to  a  wood.  It  had  grown  dark,  and 
one  came  and  begged  for  her  little  slip.  And  the  trust- 
ing child  thought,  "  It  is  a  dark  night,  no  one  sees  me, 
I  can  give  away  my  little  slip ;  and  she  drew  it  off  and 
gave  it  away,  too,  and  as  she  stood  there  and  had  no 
more,  there  fell  all  at  once  stars  from  heaven ;  they 
were  hard,  bright  dollars.  She  had  on  a  new  dress  of 
finest  linen.  Then  she  gathered  up  the  dollars  and  was 
rich  for  her  life. 

How  can  this  story  lead  the  child  to  an  appreciation 
of  his  home  and  the  service  of  his  father  and  mother  ? 
Children  love  this  story  —  why  ? 
What  is  the  central  truth  ? 
Why  is  it  both  ethical  and  religious  ? 

LITTLE   RED   RIDING  HOOD. 

Note.  — The  author  has  introduced  this  literal  translation  of  Little 
Red  Riding  Hood  here  because,  as  it  frequently  appears  in  children's 
books,  it  is  quite  shorn  of  its  ethical  content. 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  dear  little  girl  whom 
everybody  loved,  but  no  one  loved  her  so  much  as  her 
grandmother,  who  wanted  to  give  her  everything.  Once 
she  gave  her  a  little  red  hood  made  of  satin,  and  be- 
cause she  looked  so  well  in  it,  and  would  wear  nothing 
else,  she  was  called  "  Little  Red  Riding  Hood." 

One  day  her  mother  said  to  her  :   "  Come,  Little  Red 


APPENDIX  II.  141 

Riding  Hood,  here  are  a  piece  of  cake  and  a  bottle  of 
wine,  carry  them  to  grandmamma,  she  is  sick  and  weak, 
they  will  do  her  good.  Run  away  before  it  gets  warm. 
Go  like  a  pretty,  good  little  girl,  and  be  sure  to  keep  to 
the  path  ;  for  if  you  leave  it  you  will  break  the  glass,  and 
grandmother  will  have  nothing.  When  you  go  into  her 
room  do  not  forget  to  say  '  Good  morning,'  and  do  not 
look  around  into  all  the  corners." — "I  will  do  it  all 
nicely,"  said  Little  Red  Riding  Hood,  giving  her  mother 
her  hand. 

The  grandmother  lived  out  in  the  wood  a  mile  from 
the  village.  As  Little  Red  Riding  Hood  came  to  the 
wood  the  Wolf  met  her,  but  Little  Red  Riding  Hood 
did  not  know  what  a  wicked  beast  he  was,  and  was  not 
afraid  of  him,  "  Good  morning,  Little  Red  Riding 
Hood,"  said  he.  —  "  My  best  thanks,  Wolf."  —  "  Where 
are  you  going  so  early.  Little  Red  Riding  Hood?  " — "To 
grandmother's."  —  "  What  are  you  carrying  under  your 
apron?"  —  "Cake  and  wine.  Yesterday  we  baked,  so 
we  can  send  something  to  my  poor,  sick  grandmother. 
It  will  do  her  good  and  make  her  strong." 

"  Little  Red  Riding  Hood,  where  does  j^our  grand- 
mother live  ?  "  —  "A  half  mile  farther,  under  three  big 
oak  trees,  there  stands  her  house ;  below  is  the  nut 
hedge,"  said  Little  Red  Riding  Hood.  The  Wolf 
thought  to  himself,  "  That  young,  tender  thing  is  a 
fat  bit  and  will  taste  better  than  the  old  one.  I  must 
be  cunning  to  catch  both." 

He  went  for  a  little  while  beside  Red  Riding  Hood. 
Then  he  said :  "  Little  Red  Riding  Hood,  see  the  beau- 
tiful flowers  all  around  us  ;  why  do  you  not  look  at 
them?     I  believe  you  never  hear  how  sweetly  the  little 


142  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

birds  sing.  You  go  along  just  as  though  you  were 
going  to  school,  and  it  is  so  nice  out  there  in  the 
wood." 

Little  Red  Riding  Hood  lifted  her  eyes,  and  when  she 
saw  how  the  sunbeams  danced  through  the  wood  that 
were  full  of  beautiful  flowers,  she  thought :  "  If  I  could 
only  take  grandmamma  a  fresh  bouquet,  it  would  make 
her  so  glad.  It  is  so  early  that  I  shall  be  sure  to  be 
there  in  time."  Then  she  went  out  of  the  path,  into 
the  wood,  and  began  to  look  for  flowers.  And  when 
she  had  picked  one  she  always  thought  that  beyond  it 
was  a  prettier  one  and  ran  after  it,  and  so  she  got 
farther  and  farther  into  the  wood. 

But  the  Wolf  went  straight  on  to  the  house  of  the 
grandmother  and  knocked  on  the  door.  "  Who  is 
there  ?  " —  "  Little  Red  Riding  Hood,  who  brings  you  cake 
and  wine.  Open  the  door." —  "  Only  press  on  the  latch," 
the  grandmother  called,  "  I  am  so  weak  that  I  cannot 
get  up."  The  Wolf  pressed  on  the  latch  and  the  door 
flew  open,  and  he  went  without  speaking  straight  to 
the  bed  of  the  grandmother  and  swallowed  her.  Then 
he  put  on  her  clothes,  set  her  cap  on  his  head,  lay  down 
in  the  bed,  and  pulled  the  curtains  together. 

Now  Little  Red  Riding  Hood  was  running  about  after 
flowers,  and  when  she  had  found  all  she  could  carry,  she 
thought  of  her  grandmother  and  went  back  to  the  path. 
She  was  surprised  that  the  door  stood  open ;  and  when 
she  went  into  the  room  all  looked  so  strange  that  she 
thought,  "  O  dear  God,  I  feel  so  anxious  and  afraid 
to-day,  and  I  always  used  to  be  so  glad  to  come  to 
grandmother's."  She  called,  "  Good  morning,"  but  no 
answer  came.    Then  she  went  to  the  bed  and  pulled  the 


APPENDIX  II.  143 

curtains  back.    There  lay  the  grandmother  with  her  cap 
down  over  her  face,  looking  so  strange  ! 

"  Oh,  grandmother,  what  big  ears  you  have  !  " — "That 
is  so  I  can  hear  you  better."  —  "  Oh,  grandmother,  what 
big  eyes  you  have ! "  —  "  That  is  so  I  can  see  you  better." 
—  "  Oh,  grandmother,  what  big  hands  you  have !  "  — 
"That  is  so  I  can  catch  you  better."  —  "But,  grand- 
mother, what  a  horrible  great  mouth  you  have ! "  — 
"  That  is  so  I  can  eat  you  better."  Just  as  he  said  this 
the  Wolf  sprang  out  of  bed  and  swallowed  poor  Little 
Red  Riding  Hood. 

Now  the  Wolf  felt  satisfied,  so  he  laid  himself  in  bed 
again  and  began  to  snore  very  loud.  But  just  then  a 
hunter  passed  by  the  house.  He  thought :  "  How  the 
old  lady  snores  !  I  must  see  if  something  is  the 
matter."  He  went  into  the  house,  and  when  he  came 
to  the  bed  he  saw  that  the  Wolf  lay  in  it.  "  You 
here,  you  old  sinner  !  "  said  he.  "  I  have  looked  for 
you  a  long  while."  He  was  going  to  shoot  when  he 
thought  that  perhaps  the  Wolf  had  swallowed  the 
grandmother.  So  he  took  the  shears  and  began  to  cut 
the  sleeping  Wolf  open.  He  had  only  made  a  few  cuts 
when  a  little  red  hood  came  in  sight,  and  only  a  few 
more  and  a  little  girl  sprang  out  and  cried :  "  Oh,  how 
frightened  I  was  !  It  was  so  dark  in  there."  And  then 
the  old  grandmother  came  out  alive  and  could  hardly 
breathe.  "  But  Little  Red  Riding  Hood  brought  big 
stones  to  fill  up  the  Wolf's  body.  When  he  woke  up, 
he  was  going  to  spring  away,  but  the  stones  were  so 
heavy  that  he  sank  back  and  fell  dead. 

Then  all  three  were  happy.  The  hunter  took  off  the 
Wolf's  skin  and  went  home  with  it.     The  grandmother 


144  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

ate  the  cake  and  drank  the  wine  and  grew  strong.  But 
Little  Red  Riding  Hood  said,  "  As  long  as  I  live,  I  will 
never  go  out  of  the  path  again  when  my  mother  tells 
me  not  to." 

What  is  the  ethical  teaching  of  this  fairy  tale  ? 

What  does  the  Wolf  symbolize  ? 

Why  is  such  teaching  of  special  worth  to  children  ? 

Determine  the  unities  or  natural  divisions  in  this 
story. 

What  are  the  true  apperceiving  ideas  for  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  story  ? 

What  would  be  the  danger  in  presenting  this  to 
children  ? 

How  could  it  be  presented  to  avoid  such  danger  ? 

How  secure  effective  application  without  seeming  to 
moralize. 

THE   ANXIOUS   LEAF. 

Once  upon  a  time  a  little  leaf  was  heard  to  sigh  and 
cry,  as  leaves  often  do  when  a  gentle  wind  is  about. 
And  the  twig  said,  "  What  is  the  matter,  little  leaf  ?  " 
and  the  leaf  said,  "  The  wind  just  told  me  that  one  day 
it  would  pull  me  off  and  throw  me  down  on  the  ground 
to  die." 

The  twig  told  it  to  the  branch  on  which  it  grew,  and 
the  branch  told  it  to  the  tree.  And  when  the  tree  heard 
it,  it  rustled  all  over,  and  sent  back  word  to  the  leaf, 
"  Do  not  be  afraid ;  hold  on  tightly,  and  you  shall  not 
go  until  you  want  to." 

And  so  the  leaf  stopped  sighing,  but  went  on  nestling 
and  singing.     Every  time   the   tree   shook   itself   and 


APPENDIX  11.  145 

stirred  up  all  its  leaves,  the  branches  shook  themselves, 
and  the  little  twig  shook  itself,  and  the  little  leaf  danced 
up  and  down  merrily,  as  if  nothing  could  pull  it  off. 
And  so  it  grew  all  summer  long  until  October. 

And  when  the  bright  days  of  autumn  came,  the  little 
leaf  saw  all  the  leaves  around  becoming  very  beautiful. 
Some  were  yellow  and  some  were  scarlet,  and  some  were 
striped  with  both  colors. 

Then  it  asked  the  tree  what  it  meant.  And  the  tree 
said,  "All  these  leaves  are  getting  ready  to  fly  away, 
and  they  have  put  on  their  beautiful  colors  because  of 

joy." 

Then  the  little  leaf  began  to  want  to  go  too,  and  grew 
very  beautiful  in  thinking  of  it ;  and  when  it  was  very 
gay  in  color,  it  saw  that  the  branches  of  the  tree  had  no 
color  in  them,  and  so  the  leaf  said,  "  Oh,  branches  !  why 
are  you  lead  color  and  we  golden  ?  " 

"  We  must  keep  on  our  work  clothes,  for  our  task  is 
not  done ;  but  your  clothes  are  for  the  holiday,  because 
your  work  is  finished." 

Just  then  a  little  puff  of  wind  came,  and  the  leaf  let 
go  without  thinking  of  it,  and  the  wind  took  it  up  and 
turned  it  over  and  over,  and  whirled  it  like  a  spark  of 
fire  in  the  air,  and  then  it  fell  gently  down  under  the 
edge  of  the  fence  among  hundreds  of  leaves,  and  fell 
into  a  dream  and  never  waked  up  to  tell  what  it  dreamt 

about. 

(From  "  Classic  Stories  for  the  Little  Ones.") 

By  permission. 

What  time  in  the  year  would  you  choose  for  present- 
ing the  above  ? 

What  is  the  central  truth  ? 


146  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

Find  the  unities. 

How  help  the  child  to  get  this  truth  for  his  own  life  ? 
Determine  on  the  few  important  questions  you  would 
ask  in  teaching  the  above. 

CLYTIE,    THE   SUNFLOWER. 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  nymph  named  Clytie, 
who  lived  in  a  cave  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  She  loved 
her  sea  home,  although  it  was  dim  and  dark. 

One  day  Clytie  went  to  sleep  in  a  great  shell.  It 
drifted  through  the  water,  and  at  last  the  big  waves 
washed  it  ashore.  Clytie  awoke  and  stepped  on  the 
land.  She  had  never  seen  land  before  ;  all  was  new  and 
wonderful.  At  first  she  could  hardly  see  because  of  the 
great  brightness.     What  made  it  so  bright? 

Clytie  looked  up  to  the  blue  sky  above  her  and  saw 
the  sun.  Then  she  knew  why  the  earth  was  so  different 
from  the  dark  sea.  Her  heart  was  filled  with  love  for 
the  great  sun  who  made  everything  so  bright  and  beau- 
tiful. Day  by  day  she  watched  him,  and  she  wished  to 
be  like  him. 

Now  little  Clytie,  although  she  did  not  know  it,  was 
becoming  more  like  the  sun  every  day.  At  last  her 
little  feet  became  rooted  in  the  earth  where  she  had 
stood  so  long ;  her  pretty  green  dress  grew  into  a  long 
stem  with  leaves  upon  it;  her  beautiful  hair  became 
bright  golden  petals.  Little  Clytie  was  a  beautiful  sun- 
flower. 

Select  places  where  this  story  could  be  expanded  in 
presenting  it  to  the  class. 

Why  does  Clytie  become  so  transformed  ? 


APPENDIX  11.  147 

What  does  the  sun  symbolize  here  ? 
What  should  the  story  mean  to  the  child  ? 

RAGGYLUG. 

Long  ago  the  Roses  used  to  grow  on  bushes  that  had 
no  thorns.  But  the  Squirrels  and  Mice  used  to  climb 
after  them,  the  Cattle  used  to  knock  them  off  with  their 
horns,  the  'Possum  would  twitch  them  off  with  his  long 
tail,  and  the  Deer,  with  his  sharp  hoofs,  would  break 
them  down.  So  the  Brier  bush  armed  itself  with  spikes 
to  protect  its  roses  and  declared  eternal  war  on  all 
creatures  that  climbed  trees  or  had  horns,  or  hoofs, 
or  long  tails.  This  left  the  Brier  bush  at  peace  with 
none  but  Molly  Cottontail,  who  could  not  climb,  was 
hornless,  hoofless,  and  had  scarcely  any  tail  at  all. 

In  truth,  the  Cottontail  had  never  harmed  a  Brier 
rose,  and  having  now  so  many  enemies,  the  Rose  took 
the  Rabbit  into  special  friendship,  and  when  dangers 
are  threatening  poor  Bunny,  he  flies  to  the  nearest 
Brier  bush,  certain  that  it  is  ready  with  a  million  keen 
and  poisoned  daggers  to  defend  him. 

(From  "  "Wild  Animals  I  Have  Known,"  by  Ernest  Seton- 
Thompson.)     By  permission. 

What  elements  in  this  story  are  educative  ? 
What  apperceiving  ideas  would  a  class  need  to  appre- 
ciate it  ? 

What  great  social  truths  are  suggested  ? 


148  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

SUPPOSED   SPEECH  OF  JOHN  ADAMS. 
By  Daniel  Webster. 

John  Adams  (1735-1826),  the  second  President  of 
the  United  States,  was  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  War  of 
the  Revolution,  and  helped  to  make  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  His  name  was  prominent  among 
the  signers  of  that  noble  document. 

Daniel  Webster,  who  was  as  great  a  patriot  as  Adams, 
many  years  after  in  one  of  his  famous  speeches  imagined 
John  Adams  making  an  address  before  the  Convention 
which  framed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The 
following  is  this  supposed  speech :  — 

Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  give 
my  hand  and  my  heart  to  this  vote.  It  is  true,  indeed, 
that  in  the  beginning  we  aimed  not  at  independence. 
But  there's  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends.  The  injus- 
tice of  England  has  driven  us  to  arms ;  and,  blinded  to 
her  own  interest  for  our  good,  she  has  obstinately  per- 
sisted till  independence  is  now  within  our  grasp.  We 
have  but  to  reach  forth  to  it,  and  it  is  ours.  Why,  then, 
should  we  defer  the  Declaration  ?  Is  any  man  so  weak 
as  now  to  hope  for  a  reconciliation  with  England,  which 
shall  leave  either  safety  to  the  country  and  its  liberties, 
or  safety  to  his  own  life  or  his  own  honor?  Are  not 
you,  sir,  who  sit  in  that  chair,  is  not  he,  our  venerable 
colleague  near  you,  are  you  not  both  already  the  pro- 
scribed and  predestined  objects  of  punishment  and  ven- 
geance ?  Cut  off  from  all  hope  of  royal  clemency,  what 
are  you,  what  can  you  be,  while  the  power  of  England 
remains,  but  outlaws  ? 


APPENDIX  II.  149 

If  we  postpone  independence,  do  we  mean  to  carry 
on  or  give  up  the  war  ?  Do  we  mean  to  submit  to  the 
measures  of  Parliament,  Boston  Port  Bill  and  all  ?  Do 
we  mean  to  submit  and  consent  that  we  shall  be  ground 
to  powder,  and  our  country  and  its  rights  trodden  in 
the  dust?  I  know  we  do  not  mean  to  submit.  We 
never  shall  submit.  Do  we  intend  to  violate  the  most 
solemn  obligation  ever  entered  into  by  men,  that  plight- 
ing before  God  of  our  sacred  honor  to  Washington, 
when,  putting  him  forth  to  incur  the  dangers  of  war,  as 
well  as  the  political  hazards  of  the  times,  we  promised 
to  adhere  to  him  in  every  extremity  with  our  fortunes 
and  our  lives  ?  I  know  there  is  not  a  man  here  who 
would  not  rather  see  a  general  conflagration  sweep  over 
the  land,  or  an  earthquake  sink  it,  than  one  jot  or  tittle 
of  that  plighted  faith  fall  to  the  ground.  For  myself, 
having  twelve  months  ago,  in  this  place,  moved  you 
that  George  Washington  be  appointed  commander  of 
the  forces  raised,  or  to  be  raised,  for  the  defence  of 
American  liberty,  may  my  right  hand  forget  her  cun- 
ning, and  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth, 
if  I  hesitate  or  waver  in  the  support  I  give  him. 

The  war,  then,  must  go  on.  We  must  fight  it 
through.  And  if  the  war  must  go  on,  why  put  off 
longer  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ?  That  measure 
will  strengthen  us.  It  will  give  us  character  abroad. 
The  nations  will  then  treat  with  us,  which  they  never 
can  do  while  we  acknowledge  ourselves  subjects,  in 
arms  against  our  sovereign.  Nay,  I  maintain  that  Eng- 
land herself  will  sooner  treat  for  peace  with  us  on  the 
footing  of  independence  than  consent,  by  repealing  her 
acts,  to  acknowledge  that  her  whole  conduct  toward 


150  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

US  has  been  a  course  of  injustice  and  oppression.  Her 
pride  will  be  less  wounded  by  submitting  to  that  course 
of  things  which  now  predestinates  our  independence 
than  by  yielding  the  point  in  controversy  with  her 
rebellious  subjects.  The  former  she  would  regard  as 
the  result  of  fortune ;  the  latter  she  would  feel  as  her 
own  deep  disgrace.  Why,  then,  sir,  do  we  not  change 
this  from  a  civil  to  a  national  war!  And  since  we 
must  fight  it  through,  why  not  put  ourselves  in  a  state 
to  enjoy  all  the  benefits  of  victory,  if  we  gain  the 
victory  ? 

If  we  fail,  it  can  be  no  worse  for  us.  But  we  shall 
not  fail.  The  cause  will  raise  up  armies ;  the  cause 
Avill  create  navies.  The  people, — the  people,  if  we 
are  true  to  them,  will  carry  themselves  and  will  carry 
us  gloriously  through  this  struggle.  I  care  not  how 
fickle  other  people  have  been  found.  I  know  the 
people  of  these  colonies,  and  I  know  that  resistance  to 
British  aggression  is  deep  and  settled  in  their  hearts 
and  cannot  be  eradicated.  Every  colony,  indeed,  has 
expressed  its  willingness  to  follow,  if  we  but  take  the 
lead.  Sir,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  will  inspire 
the  people  with  increased  courage.  Instead  of  a  long 
and  bloody  war  for  the  restoration  of  privileges,  for 
redress  of  grievances,  for  chartered  immunities,  held 
under  a  British  king,  set  before  them  the  glorious  object 
of  entire  independence,  and  it  will  breathe  into  them 
anew  the  spirit  of  life. 

Read  this  Declaration  at  the  head  of  the  army; 
every  sword  will  be  drawn  and  the  solemn  vow  uttered, 
to  maintain  it  or  perish  on  the  bed  of  honor.  Publish 
it  from  the  pulpit;   religion  will  approve  it,  and  the 


APPENDIX    11.  151 

love  of  religious  liberty  will  cling  around  it,  resolved 
to  stand  with  it  or  fall  with  it.  Send  it  to  the  public 
halls ;  proclaim  it  there  ;  let  them  see  it,  who"  saw  their 
brothers  and  their  sons  fall  on  the  field  of  Bunker  Hill 
and  in  the  streets  of  Lexington  and  Concord,  and  the 
very  walls  will  cry  out  in  its  support. 

Sir,  I  know  the  uncertainty  of  human  affairs,  but  I  see 
—  I  see  clearly  through  this  day's  business.  You  and  I, 
indeed,  may  rue  it.  We  may  not  live  to  see  the  time 
that  this  Declaration  shall  be  made  good.  We  may  die  : 
die  colonists ;  die  slaves  ;  die,  it  may  be  ignominiously 
and  on  the  scaffold.  Be  it  so.  Be  it  so.  If  it  be  the 
pleasure  of  Heaven  that  my  country  shall  require  the 
poor  offering  of  my  life,  the  victim  shall  be  ready,  at 
the  appointed  hour  of  sacrifice,  come  when  the  hour 
may.  But  while  I  do  live,  let  me  have  a  country,  or  at 
least  the  hope  of  a  countr}',  and  that  a  free  countr}^ 

But  whatever  may  be  our  fate,  be  assured —  be  assured 
that  this  Declaration  will  stand.  It  may  cost  treasure, 
and  it  may  cost  blood ;  but  it  will  stand,  and  it  will 
richly  compensate  for  both.  Through  the  thick  gloom 
of  the  present,  I  see  the  brightness  of  the  future,  as 
the  sun  in  heaven.  We  shall  make  this  a  glorious,  an 
immortal  day.  When  we  are  in  our  graves,  our  chil- 
dren will  honor  it.  They  will  celebrate  it  with  thankjs- 
giving,  with  festivity,  with  bonfires  and  illuminations. 
On  its  annual  return  they  will  shed  tears,  —  copious, 
gushing  tears ;  not  of  subjection  and  slavery,  not  of 
agony  and  distress,  but  of  exultation,  of  gratitude,  and 
of  joy. 

Sir,  before  God,  I  believe  the  hour  is  come.  My 
judgment  approves  the  measure,  and  my  whole  heart  is 


152  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

in  it.  All  that  I  have,  and  all  that  I  am,  and  all  that  I 
hope,  in  this  life,  I  am  now  ready  here  to  stake  upon  it ; 
and  I  leave  off  as  I  began,  that,  live  or  die,  survive  or 
perish,  I  am  for  the  Declaration.  It  is  my  living  senti- 
ment, and  by  the  blessing  of  God,  it  shall  be  my  dying 
sentiment.  Independence  now  and  independence  for- 
ever. 

{From  "  Stepping  Stones  to  Literature.") 

By  permission. 

In  what  grade  would  you  introduce  this  speech  ? 

In  relation  to  what  other  material? 

What  related  ideas  would  you  recall  in  order  to  secure 
an  intelligent  interpretation  of  the  whole  ? 

How  help  your  class  to  project  themselves  into  the 
selection  ? 

How  would  you  secure  good  expressive  or  oral  reading 
of  the  speech? 


APPENDIX   III. 

HERV6   KIEL, 
Bt  Robert  Browning. 

On  the  sea  and  at  the  Hogue,  sixteen  hundred  ninety- 
two, 

Did  the  English  fight  the  French,  —  woe  to  France  ! 

And  the  tliirty-first  of  May,  helter-skelter  through  the 
blue. 

Like  a  crowd  of  frightened  porpoises  a  shoal  of  sharks 
pursue. 

Came  crowding  ship  on  ship  to  St.  Malo  on  the  Ranee, 

With  the  English  fleet  in  view. 

'  Twas  the  squadron  that  escaped,  with  the  victor  in  full 
chase. 

First  and  foremost  of  the  drove,  in  his  great  ship, 
Damfreville ; 

Close  on  him  fled,  great  and  small, 
Twenty -two  good  ships  in  all ; 
And  they  signalled  to  the  place, 
"  Help  the  winners  of  race  ! 

Get  us  guidance,  give  us  harbor,  take  us  quick,  —  or, 

quicker  still. 
Here's  the  English  can  and  will !  " 

153 


154  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

Then  the  pilots  of  the  place  put  out  brisk,  and  leaped 

on  board  ; 
"Why,  what  hope  or  cliance  have  ships  like  these  to 

pass  ?  "  laughed  they ; 
"Rocks  to  starboard,   rocks  to  port,  all  the  passages 

scarred  and  scored, 
Shall  the  Formidable  here,  with  her  twelve-and-eighty 

guns, 
Think  to  make  the  river  mouth  by  the  single  narrow 

way, 
Trust  to  enter  where  'tis  ticklish  for  a  craft  of  twenty 

tons. 

And  with  flow  of  full  beside  ? 
Now  'tis  slackest  of  ebb  tide 

Reach  the  mooring  ?     Rather  say. 
While  rock  stands,  or  water  runs, 

Not  a  ship  will  leave  the  bay  !  " 

Then  was  called  a  council  straight; 
Brief  and  bitter  the  debate. 

"  Here's  the  English  at  our  heels ;  would  you  have  them 

take  in  tow 
All  that's  left  us  of  the  fleet,  linked  together,  stern  and 

bow; 

For  a  prize  to  Plymouth  Sound  ? 
Better  run  the  ships  aground !  " 
(Ended  Damfreville  his  speech) 
"  Not  a  minute  more  to  wait ! 
Let  the  captains,  all  and  each. 


APPENDIX   in.  155 

Shove  ashore,  then  blow  up,  burn  the  vessels  on  the 
beach ! 

France  must  undergo  her  fate." 

"  Give  the  word !  "  but  no  such  word 

Was  ever  spoke  or  heard ; 

For  up  stood,  for  out  stepped,  for  in  struck,  amid  all 

these  — 
A  captain  ?  a  lieutenant  ?  a  mate  ?  —  first,  second,  third? 

No  such  man  of  mark  and  meet 
With  his  betters  to  compete  ! 

But  a  simple  Breton  sailor,  pressed  by  Tourville  for  the 

fleet, 
A  poor  coasting  pilot,  he,  —  Herve  Riel,  the  Croisickese. 

And,  "  What  mockery  or  malice  have  we  here  ? '"  cried 

Herv^  Riel. 
"  Are  you  mad,  you  Malouins  ?    Are  you  cowards,  fools, 

or  rogues  ? 
Talk  to  me  of  rocks  and  shoals  ?  —  me,  who  took  the 

soundings,  tell 
On  my  fingers  every  bank,  every  shallow,  every  swell, 
'Twixt  the  offing  here  and   Greve,  where  the  river 

disembogues  ? 
Are  you  bought  by  English  gold?   Is  it  love  the  lying's 

for? 

"  Morn  and  eve,  night  and  day, 
Have  I  piloted  your  bay, 


156  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

Entered  free  and  anchored  fast  at  the  foot  of  Solidor. 
Burn  the  fleet,  and  ruin  France  ?     That  were  worse  than 

fifty  Hogues ! 
Sirs,  then  know  I  speak  the  truth !     Sirs,  believe  me, 

there's  a  way ! 

"  Only  let  me  lead  the  line. 
Have  the  biggest  ship  to  steer, 
Get  this  Formidable  clear. 
Make  the  others  follow  mine ; 

And  I  lead  them  most  and  least,  by  a  passage  I  know 
well. 

Right  to  Solidor,  past  Gr^ve, 

And  there  lay  them  safe  and  sound  ; 

And  if  one  ship  misbehave,  — 

Keel  so  much  as  grate  the  ground,  — 

Why,  I've  nothing  but  my  life ;  here's  my  head ! " 
cries  Herv^  Riel. 

Not  a  minute  more  to  wait. 

"  Steer  us  in,  then,  small  and  great ! 

Take  the  helm ;  lead   the  line ;  save    the   squadron ! " 
cried  its  chief. 

"  Captains,  give  the  sailor  place  !  " 

He  is  Admiral,  in  brief. 

Still  the  north  wind,  by  God's  grace, 

See  the  noble  fellow's  face 

As  the  big  ship,  with  a  bound. 

Clears  the  entry  like  a  hound, 


APPENDIX    III.  157 

Keeps  the  passage  as  its  inch  of  way  were  the  wide 
sea's  profound ! 

See  !  safe  through  shoal  and  rock, 
How  they  follow  in  a  flock. 

Not  a  ship  that  misbehaves,  not  a  keel  that  grates  the 
ground, 

Not  a  spar  that  comes  to  grief ; 

The  peril,  see,  is  past, 

All  are  harbored  to  the  last ; 

And  just  as  Herv^  Rielhalloes,  "  Anchor  !  "  sure's  fate. 
Up  the  English  come,  —  too  late. 

So  the  storm  subsides  to  calm  ; 
They  see  the  green  trees  wave 
On  the  heights  o'erlooking  Greve  ; 
Hearts  that  bled  are  stanched  with  balm. 
"  Just  our  rapture  to  enhance, 

Let  the  English  rake  the  bay, 
Gnash  their  teeth  and  glare  askance 

As  they  cannonade  away! 

'Neath  the  rampired  Solidor  pleasant  riding  on  the 
Ranee  !  " 

How  hope  succeeds  despair  on  each  captain's  counte- 
nance ! 

Out  burst  all  with  one  accord, 
"  This  is  Paradise  for  Hell ! 
Let  France,  let  France's  king 
Thank  the  man  who  did  the  thinof !  " 


158  MANUAL   OF  READING. 

What  a  shout,  and  all  one  word, 

"Herv^  Kiel!" 
As  he  stepped  in  front  once  more, 
Not  a  symptom  of  surprise 
In  the  frank  blue  Breton  eyes  — 
Just  the  same  man  as  before. 

Then  said  Damfreville,  "  My  friend, 
I  must  speak  out  at  the  end. 

Though  I  find  that  speaking  hard : 
Praise  is  deeper  than  the  lips ; 
You  have  saved  the  King  his  ships ; 

You  must  name  your  own  reward. 
Faith,  our  sun  was  near  eclipsed ! 
Demand  whate'er  you  will, 
France  remains  your  debtor  still. 

Ask  to  heart's  content,  and  have !  or   my  name's  not 
Damfreville ! " 

Then  a  beam  of  fun  outbroke 
On  the  bearded  mouth  that  spoke. 
As  the  honest  heart  laughed  through 
Those  frank  eyes  of  Breton  blue  ; 
"  Since  I  needs  must  say  my  say, 
Since  on  board  the  duty's  done. 

And  from  Malo  Roads  to  Croisic  Point,  what  is  it  but 
a  run  ? 

Since  'tis  ask  and  have  I  may ; 
Since  the  others  go  ashore,  — 
Come  !  A  good  whole  holiday ! 


APPENDIX   III.  159 

Leave  to  go  and  see  my  wife,  whom  I  call  the  Belle 

Aurore ! " 
That  he  asked,  and  that  he  got,  —  nothing  more. 

Name  and  deed  alike  are  lost ; 
Not  a  pillar  nor  a  post 

In  his  Croisic  keeps  alive  the  feat  as  it  befell ; 

Not  a  head  in  white  and  black 
On  a  single  fishing  smack 

In  memory  of  the  man  but  for  whom  had  gone  to  wrack 
All  that  France  saved  from  the  fight  whence  England 
bore  the  bell. 

Go  to  Paris  ;  rank  on  rank 
Search  the  heroes  flung  pell-mell 
On  the  Louvre,  face  and  flank ; 

You  shall  look  long  enough  ere  you  come  to  Herv6  Riel. 

So,  for  better  and  for  worse, 
Herv^  Riel,  accept  my  verse  ! 

In  my  verse,  Herve  Riel,  do  thou  once  more 
Save  the  squadron,  honor  France,  love  thy  wife,  the 
Belle  Aurore ! 

By  permission  of  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 
(For  the  analysis  of  this  poem,  see  Chapter  XIII.) 

Make  a  list  of  important  patriotic  poems ;  trj^  to  give 
the  central  thought  of  each  a  clearly  individual  putting. 

Why  is  patriotism  a  moral  quality  ? 

Try  to  determine  when  it  begins  naturally  to  develop 
in  the  life  of  a  child. 


APPENDIX   IV. 

STUDY   OF   MACBETH. 

Made  by  the  Class  in  Ethics  in  the  Oswego  Normal  School. 

The  central  thought  of  play  :  The  deed  returns  upon 
the  doer. 

Note.  —  The  whole  action  centres  in  the  forces  which  lead  up  to 
the  deed  and  the  consequences  that  result  from  it. 

Act  I.    Conditions  that  lead  up  to  the  deed. 

Scene  I.    The  foreshadowing  of  the  deed. 
Evil  forces  are  represented  as  astir,  on  tiptoe,  expect- 
ant.    "There  to  meet  with  Macbeth." 

Note.  —  The  witches  seem  to  stand  as  types  of  evil  forces  of  a 
purely  spiritual  sort  that  "  attend  on  mortal  thought."  They  are 
the  only  supersensible  powers  to  which  INIacbeth  turns  for  aid. 

Scene  II.  Introduction  to  human  forces  that  are  at 
work.  (This  scene  gives  the  objective  view  as  the  first 
scene  gives  a  view  of  the  supersensible.) 

Trend  of  forces  in  this  scene  is  toward  the  stimulation 
of  ambitious  desires. 

Scene  III.   The  suggestion  leading  to  the  deed. 

Macbeth's  readiness  for  the  suggestion  speaks  of  his 
familiarity  in  desire  with  that  which  is  suggested.  "  If 
chance  will  have  me  king,  why  chance  may  crown  me." 

160 


APPENDIX    ir.  161 

Scene  IV.  Re  enforcement  of  suggestion  by  fresh  in- 
centive. 

"  That  is  a  step 

On  which  I  must  fall  down,  or  else  o'erleap, 

For  in  my  way  it  lies." 

"  Let  not  light  see  my  black  and  deep  desires." 

Scene  V.  Foreshadowing  of  opportunity  for  the  crime. 
Attention  of  both  actors  turns  to  this  opportunity. 

Note. — A  second  actor  enters  in  the  form  of  Lady  Macbeth,  who 
represents  the  element  of  will,  as  Macbeth  represents  the  element 
of  desire. 

Scene  VI.    Brings  all  the  actors  together. 

Scene  VII.    The  choice. 
Note  Macbeth's  deliberation. 

Note  the  character  of  Macbeth  and  of  Lady  Macbeth 
as  exhibited  here. 

Act  XL   The  deed. 

Scene  I.   Macbeth's  vision. 

Note.  —  Macbeth  shows  in  this  scene  that  he  has  already  entered 
into  the  world  of  "  wicked  dreams,"  opened  to  him  by  his  choice. 

"  Now  o'er  the  one  half  world 

Nature  seems  dead,  and  wicked  dreams  abuse 

The  curtain'd  sleep." 

Scene  II.    The  crime. 

The  real  sentence  of   the   crime,  i.e.  the  subjective 


162  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

results,  begin  to  appear  at  once.  "  Sleep  no  more." 
Remorse  is  sleepless. 

"  Wake  Duncan  with  thy  knocking !  I  would  thou 
couldst ! " 

"  To  know  my  deed,  'twere  best  not  know  myself." 

Scene  III.    The  discovery  of  the  deed. 

"  To  show  an  unfelt  sorrow  is  an  office 
Which  the  false  man  does  easily." 

Scene  IV.  Macbeth  made  King.  The  immediate  ob- 
jective result  of  the  deed. 

"  But  this  sore  night 

Hath  trifled  former  knowings." 

Compare  the  unrest  of  nature  represented  here  with 
that  in  "  Julius  Csesar,"  Act  I.,  Scene  III. 

Act  III.    The  exactions  of  the  deed. 

"  Blood  will  have  blood." 

"  Strange  things  I  have  to  hand." 

"  We  are  yet  but  young  in  deed." 

Scene  I.   A  second  crime  planned  for  safety. 
"  But  to  be  safely  thus." 

Note  the  appearance  of  new  elements  of  remorse  in 
this  scene :  sense  of  insecurity,  rebuke  of  the  good, 
fear  of  the  good,  deep  discontent,  bitterness  of  the 
coveted  fruit  when  tasted. 

Scene  II.  Lady  Macbeth,  the  tacit  accomplice  in  a 
second  crime. 


APPENDIX   IV.  163 

"  Things   bad    begun    make    strong   themselves 
by  ill." 

Note  additional  features  of  remorse :  loneliness, 
brooding,  sleep  without  rest,  etc. 

Scene  III.    The  second  crime. 

Scene  IV.    The  second  sentence. 

Scene  V.    (1)  Macbeth  fully  under  Hecate's  control. 
(2)  More  potent  forces  of  evil  enter  the  scene   and 
predict  deeper  disaster. 

Scene  VI.  Disintegrating  influence  of  the  crime  work- 
ing outward  into  the  country  at  large.  Signs  of  general 
disaffection. 

Act  IV.  The  widespread  disintegrating  power  of  the 
deed. 

Scene  I.   Macbeth's  deliberate  alliance  with  the  powers 

of  evil. 

"  From  this  moment 

The  very  firstlings  of  my  heart  shall  be 

The  fii'stlings  of  my  hand." 

Scene  II.    The  third  crime.    The  harmless  are  struck. 

Scene  III.  Disruption  of  the  state.  The  universal 
terror.     War  foreshadowed. 

(Compare  with  Anthony's  speech  over  the  body  of 
Csesar,  "•  Julius  Caesar,"  Act  III.,  Scene  I.) 

Act  V.    The  full  return  of  the  deed  upon  the  doers. 


164  MANUAL   OF  BEADING 

Scene  I.    The  remorse  of  Lady  Macbeth. 

"  All  the  perfumes  of  Arabia  will  not  sweeten 
this  little  hand." 

Scene  II.    Union    of   the   wronged   country   for   the 
restoration  of  civil  and  social  order. 

Scene  III.      Macbeth   forsaken.      The   loneliness    of 
crime. 

"I  have  lived  long  enough,"  etc. 

Scene  IV.    Union  of  opposing  forces. 

Scene  V.    Death  of  Lady  Macbeth. 

"  I  have  supp'd  full  with  horrors." 

(See  Burne-Jones's  picture  of  the  death  of 
Lady  Macbeth.) 

Scene  VI.    Birnam  before  Dunsinane. 

Scene  VII.    The  fall  of  the  castle. 

"  Tyrant  show  thy  face  I  " 

Scene  VIII.    Death  of  Macbeth. 

1.  How  did  the  Witches'  prophecy   serve   to   excite 

Macbeth  to  the  deed  ? 

2.  How  did  the  new  honors  bestowed  upon  Macbeth 

serve  to  excite  him  to  the  deed  ? 

3.  Where  do  you  see  a  conjQlict  of  desires  in  Macbeth  ? 

4.  Where  does  Lady  Macbeth  see  the  opportunity  to 

murder  Duncan  ? 


APPENDIX    IV.  165 

When  did  she  determine  to  seize  this  opportunity? 

5.  Where  do  you  find  anything  approaching  delibera- 

tion on  the  part  of  Lady  Macbeth? 

6.  Why  is  this  not  true  deliberation  ? 

7.  When  is  the  deed  virtually  settled  on  ? 
Why? 

8.  What  is  the  influence  of  these  two  minds  on  each 

other? 

9.  Had   Macbeth  been  left  alone,  what  would  have 

been    his   probable    course    in    the    murder    of 
Duncan? 

10.  Had  Lady  Macbeth  been  left  alone,  how  would  she 

probably  have  received  Duncan  ? 

11.  When  and  how  do  the  effects  of  deliberate  crime 

begin  to  be  felt? 

12.  What  three  important  traits  of  remorse  are  shown 

in  Act  II.,  Scene  II.? 

13.  Distinguish  between  regret  and  repentance. 
Which  is  allied  to  remorse  ? 

14.  What  new  elements  of  remorse  are  added  in  Scene 

L,  Act  III. 

15.  What  change  in  the  will  of  Macbeth  is  shown  in 

this  scene  ? 

16.  What  added  features  of  remorse  appear  in  Scene 

II.,  Act  II.  ? 

17.  What  is  the  influence  of  Lady  Macbeth's  tacit  con- 

sent to  the  murder  of  Banquo  on  Macbeth  ? 

18.  Account  for  the  ghost  companion  that  appears  in 

Scene  IV.,  Act  III. 

19.  How   do  you  account  for  the  marked  change  in 

Lady  Macbeth  at  this  time  ? 

20.  What  immediate    effect   of    the    second   crime    is 


166  MANUAL   OF  BEADING. 

shown  in  Macbeth  in  the  last  speeches  of  this 
scene? 

21.  Compare  the  motives  that  led  up  to  the  two  crimes. 

22.  How  account  for  the  feeling  expressed  in  the  last 

words   in   this   scene,  "  We   are   but  young   in 
deed"? 

23.  Compare  this  with  "  Julius  Csesar." 

24.  Account  for  the  appearance  of  Hecate  in  Scene  V., 

Act  HI. 

25.  Why  should  Shakespeare  introduce  war  as  one  of 

the  results  of  this  crime  ? 

26.  What  passage  in  Act  I.,  Scene  IV.,  shows  Macbeth's 

attitude  toward  society  and  proves  him  the  anti- 
social being? 

27.  What  relation  do  you  find  between  the  prophecy 

made  by  the  first  apparition  and  Macbeth's  own 
thought  ? 

28.  What  is  the  immediate  influence  of  these  prophecies 

on  Macbeth  ?     Quote  passages  to  prove. 

29.  What  motive  moves  him   to  this  third  and  most 

dreadful  deed? 

30.  Why  does  Scene  II.,  Act  IV.,  represent  a  deeper 

tragedy  than  any  that  has  preceded  ? 

31.  Why  does  it  make  a  stronger  appeal  to  the  sym- 

pathies of  the  reader? 

32.  Quote  passages  in  this  scene  that  show  that  Mac- 

beth's   sins    had   loosened   social   bonds   in    his 
kingdom. 

33.  In  what  way  does  Scene  II.,  Act  IV.,  show  the 

strength  and  importance  of  civil  bonds  ? 

34.  Quote  passages  to  show  that  both  Malcolm  and 

Macduff  possess  patriotism. 


APPENDIX  IV.  167 

35.  Analyze  their  picture  of  Macbeth. 

36.  What  would  have  been  the  result  if  Macbeth  had 

possessed  true  patriotism  ? 

37.  On  what  had  the  mind  of  Lady  Macbeth  dwelt 

most?     Scene  I.,  Act  V. 

38.  Distinguish  between  a  sense  of  guilt  and  sorrow 

for  guilt.     Which  does  Lady  ]Macbeth  show? 

39.  What  is  there  here  to  suggest  the   cause  of   her 

death  ? 

40.  What  changes  does  Scene  IT.  show  in  the  mind  of 

Macbeth  ? 

41.  Account  for  brutality  that  appears  in  this  scene  ; 

for  the  want  of  continuity  in  thought  and  act. 

42.  What  are   the  effects  of  remorse   as  judged  from 

this  scene  ? 

43.  Compare  the  sorrow  of  Macbeth  iu  Scene  V.  with 

that  of  Macduff. 

44.  What  is  Macbeth's  philosophy  of  life  as  shown  in 

this  scene? 

45.  Why  does  Macbeth  leave  his  castle  when  his  mili- 

tary strength  bids  him  stay  there? 

46.  What  is  Macbeth's  view  of  his  own  course  at  last? 

47.  What  is  his  view  of  the  Witches  ? 

48.  Trace  the  stages  in  the  moral  decline  of  Macbeth. 
What   are   the   causes  at  each  step?     How    does 

this  decline  express  itself? 


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